Two Worlds One Heart
by naruto'sramengirl
Summary: Yumi has always loved to go against the rules of rich society. Ulrich has always believed in a dog-eat-dog world and that hes doomed to be a delinquent forever. But after a coicindental meeting the two begin to rethink their outlook on the world and love.
1. First Day For the Rich Girl

Hey everyone! I'm naruto'sramengirl, and I have started yet another story. Now I'm going to try to update quite regularly for ALL of my stories. Hopefully I can update them all at least once a month.

Anyways, this story is called Two Worlds One Heart. You've read the summary. It's kind of a Lady and the Tramp Vibe (but with humans) so let's just go along with that feeling. I've got high hopes with this fanfic. Hope you like it! And check some of my other stories!

Chapter 1: First Day for the Rich Girl

"I just don't understand why you two insist on going to this abominable public school." Mr. Ishiyama said to his daughter and his son.

"Oh, Takeo, be reasonable. They want to be like regular people. You know, they want to see how the majority of teens actually behave." Mrs. Ishiyama told her husband. "And I don't blame you two at all. Rich people tend to act like rich, spoilt brats. And I think this would be quite a humbling experience for you."

"There's nothing humbling about it! You two could get kidnapped—or murdered! Teens who go to public school—especially a school like Kadic—is bound to be filled with delinquents and future hardened criminals."

"Dad, please. You throw a fit no matter what we do." Yumi mumbled as she stared out the window of the limo. They were all in the back seat of the family stretch limo. Yumi and her younger brother, Hiroki, were about to start the school year at Kadic Academy. A public boarding school.

"Yeah, Dad. Poor people can't be that bad. Mommy's family was poor before she married you."

"We were middle class." Mrs. Ishiyama said through gritted teeth. "And don't say it like that. You make me sound like a gold digger."

"Akiko, I know you're not. I married you before I even got my riches. My family was a bit well off, but I definitely not the millionaire that I am today. I know you love me for me." Mr. Ishiyama doted. He kissed his wife on the cheek and snuggled up to him. Yumi and Hiroki were grossed out.

"Don't do that here where we can hear and see your every move!" Yumi said.

"Parents should be banned from lovey dovey stuff." Hiroki agreed.

"If it wasn't for 'lovey dovey stuff' you two wouldn't be born." Mrs. Ishiyama teased.

"WAY too much information." Yumi said.

"Well back to this public school business. I just don't like it."

"But we went to public school, and we turned out fine." Mrs. Ishiyama pointed out.

"True, but that was in Japan. I don't trust foreign education."

"We've lived all over the world!" Yumi exclaimed. "And we've lived in France for the past two years anyways. All I know is that I don't want to go back to that uptight Pine Hills Academy. It's too strict. You get detention if you don't walk straight!"

"And what's wrong with a little order?"

"Nothing. But I though you didn't like the idea of me having a teacher conference because I didn't know which spoon to eat my soup with." Hiroki added.

"Well they are uptight. But you do need to know proper etiquette." Mr. Ishiyama admitted.

"Well let's just give this a trial run now, Takeo. We did promise them."

"You're right."

"Now you two be polite. Don't show off just yet. Try and make some real friends. And if you think we're letting any of these teenagers into our mansion, we'll send you to the asylum to have your minds checked." Mrs. Ishiyama declared.

"Yes, Ka-san." Yumi and Hiroki chimed.

"Oh! And one more thing." Mr. Ishiyama said as the limo pulled up the front of the school. "No—and I mean absolutely—no dating! At least not until I have done a thorough background check on every boy that goes to this school!" he yelled.

"Don't worry, Dad. I will forever be your virgin daughter." Yumi mumbled. She was seventeen! What was with this third degree? See, this is why she hasn't had a proper boyfriend. They were either there for the money or they ran off by dad's military-spy entourage.

"That's all I ask." Mr. Ishiyama beamed at her. Yumi and Hiroki kissed their parents goodbye and stepped out of the limo.

They looked at the school grounds and the building itself. It was tall, old building. It looked more like the State Penitentiary than a local school. They didn't put eliminate the idea of future-criminals attending here just yet. Students were walking around, talking and just hanging out. Several did pay attention at the arrival and departure of the limo, and were now pointing and whispering at the two siblings . . . so much for not showing off.

"Well, sis. Good luck, to ya." Hiroki said as he looked up at his sister.

"We can do this, Hiroki. We're tough." Yumi reasoned. The truth was both felt like their insides were still on the limo with dear, old mommy and daddy.

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"Welcome back, students."

"Good morning, Mrs. Hertz."

"I hope you all had a wonderful summer. We have a new student joining homeroom. Her name is Yumi Ishiyama." Mrs. Hertz informed her homeroom class. "Miss Ishiyama, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

"Hi. I used to go to Pine Hills Acadamey. I have a younger brother who's also going here. He's a freshman. I'm a dog person, and love extreme sports." A boy with a goofy smile raised his hand. "No, I'm not Chinese. I'm Japanese." Yumi said flatly. The boy lowered his hand.

"Thank you, Yumi, you may take a seat next to Miss Knight."

Yumi made her way to the only seat available which was adjacent to a black girl with a red streak in her hair. She was wearing rather trashy clothes. They definitely weren't of the latest fashion. She reeked of poverty, tomboy quality, and indifference. Yumi liked this girl.

"Hey, I take it you're Knight." Yumi said as she sat down.

"Call me Sam." Sam answered as she busily carved a swear word into the desk.

"So, how's Kadic as a school?" Yumi asked.

"I guess it's like any other school. You got your idiots and your screw jobs."

"How are the teachers?"

"They're like any other teachers. Only a handful care, the rest are planning to torture us in some twisted way where they can't get fired.

At Pine Hills, all of the students pretty much came from the same background. They were either extremely smart and arrogant, or they were extremely rich, and well, still arrogant. As for the teachers, they were like personal servants who just happy to get paid three times more than a regular teacher's salary.

"I like it here already." Yumi stated. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my old school was lame, boring, and well just filled to the brim with arrogant jackasses."

"You said you went to Pine Hills, right?" Yumi nodded.

"So you're rich. So what's a rich girl like you doing here? Is daddy punishing you for wrecking his Mercedes?"

"No, my dad's probably have a heart attack wondering if I'm okay here, and it was the Lexis that I'd rather wreck because we're supposed to be getting a new anyway." Yumi joked.

Sam smirked. "I like you. You're not like the Prisses."

"The what?"

"The Prisses. They're these bunch of rich, snobby kids that go here for some strange reason that only God knows why."

"I thought I had escaped all of the crazy, looney rich people."

"Sorry, you high-classers are everywhere. This is France."

"France has plenty of poor people." Yumi said waving to the rest of the class.

"Yeah, but we're just outside of Paris. Of course High-classers are always swarming around the major cities of any country."

"True. So what classes do you have?" Sam gave Yumi her schedule, and held out her hand for Yumi to hand hers over.

"Looks like we got Math, Science, aaaand Study Hall together." Sam said.

"So you're in AP Calculus, huh? And I thought you were just another street urchin." Yumi mocked.

"And do you buy your A's?"

"No, I'm actually good at math."

"That's good, I could use a tutor." The bell rang. "Well I'll take you there. Come on."

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Yumi's day was going progressively well. She hadn't had any problems as of late. And looked like she now had a friend to rely on. Yumi was wandering around looking for her way to her Civics class when she bumped into a girl who resembled a pink elf.

"Oh, sorry." Yumi said. She took one look at the girl. "Wow, you have pink hair!"

The girl laughed. "Yes, I know. And if I'm not mistaken, you were the girl in the limo."

"Guilty."

"My name's Aelita."

"I'm Yumi."

"Oooh! Are you Japanese?"

"Yes!" Yumi exclaimed. Finally! Someone who realized that Asia consisted of more than just China! Where had this girl been all her life?

"If you're lost, I can help you. What class do you have next?"

"I have Civics class next."

"That's great!" Aelita chirped. "I have that class too! So does my other friend!"

"Oh, are you a senior too?"

"No, I'm in the advanced level so I'm actually ahead of my fellow Junior mates."

"That's cool."

"Your schedule says that you're in advanced level too. I'm guessing you just never got around to taking Civics then."

"No, my old school ran on a different schedule . . . and a different planet."

Aelita giggled. "Pine Hills?"

"How'd you know?" Yumi asked, curious.

"I was invited to go there."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why did you leave?"

"You've made your point very clear." Yumi admitted.

"And here we are!" Aelita said. Civics class. "You can sit with me and my friend Jeremie." The two girls made their way over to a table up front. It was occupied with a rather small and scrawny blond boy with glasses. He too seemed to be elf-size.

"Hi, Jeremie! We have a new partner joining us. Her name is Yumi."

"Hello, Yumi." Jeremie said as he flipped typed away on his keyboard. He looked away long enough to give Yumi a smile.

"So what are you typing?" Yumi asked.

"Jeremie's a computer nut. He likes to make computer programs and stuff like that. I help him out every now and then.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you two are nerds."

Aelita giggled some more. This girl must have had a lungs that breathed in nitrous oxide because she seemed to laugh at everything.

"I take that as a compliment." Jeremie said nonchalantly. "Nerds rule the world."

"My dad would love you." Yumi stated.

"Why do you say that?"

"My father works for Sony. He's high up and deals with a lot of technology and computers. He's a die-hard nerd. I'll never understand how he met my mother."

"Is your mom a nerd?" Aelita asked. Now that's something people don't normally ask.

"No, she's bookworm. She loves to read. And to cook. She's written several cookbooks actually. She probably fawning over some French dish right now."

"So your dad works for Sony? And your name's Ishiyama?" Jeremie asked.

"That's what I said."

"Then you're daughter of Takeo Ishiyama! He's a genius!" Jeremie exclaimed.

"If you say so."

"He knows everything about computers! I have to meet him."

"Oh, well I'm not allowed to bring anyone over—not yet anyways."

Jeremie frowned. "Why not?"

"My mom thinks that anyone that wants to come over this early just wants to take advantage of the fact that I have rich parents." Yumi stated.

"That sucks." Jeremie said as he looked down at the table. "Well she's a smart woman. I wouldn't put it passed the Prisses (no matter how rich they are) or any other leech to want to visit."

"So who exactly are the Prisses? This the second time someone's mentioned them to me."

"And it won't be the last. The Prisses are a bunch of rich snobs who'll probably try to recruit you as a one of them."

"But I don't want to be one of them." Yumi protested.

"Then you decline fervently. And Jeremie and I will protect you. Right, Jeremie?" Jeremie looked flustered.

"I suppose." He mumbled.

Aelita glared at him. "Be a man, Jer."

"I just don't want to deal with them. They're like animals."

"But who exactly are they?"

"They're a bunch of girls." Jeremie answered. "They're leader is Sissi. She only goes here because her father is the principal of the school. She's got lackeys too. There are two other girls that are forced to share a brain with the witch (you can imagine how stupid they are). Their names are Amelia and Madison."

"Sissi, Amelia and Madison."

"You can't miss them. They have an entourage of boys and girls that follow them everywhere. Sissi is always in the middle. Amelia is a red-head, and Amelia is a dumb blonde." Jeremie looked hurt at that comment. "Well blondes are normally dumb. You're an exception." Aelita replied. The bell rang, signaling for lunch to start.

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Yumi got her tray that was filled with an assortment of questionable food items. She could hear her mother already. "They make regular people eat this? Well no wonder your dad thinks they have problems! The food itself is insane! If I were that meatloaf, I'd be ashamed to be even called meat!"

Yumi looked around the vast room filled with students lounging around the tables. She saw Aelita waving her arms like she was stuck in a burning building. Yumi chuckled and shook her head as she made her way to the table. She saw Sam on the way there. She sat with nothing but boys. Unruly boys. Two were brunettes. The other was a blonde. He was actually sitting in Sam's lap. If it wasn't for his hair that stuck straight up, he's definitely look a lot shorter—even shorter than Jeremie and Aelita even.

Yumi was almost at the table when her path was blocked by three girls. The girl in the middle was taller than the other two and wore a pink shirt and jeans with a skirt over them. The defining feature was a tiara that she wore. The girl on the right was a blonde. The girl on the left was a red-head. These must be the Prisses.

"Why hello." Sissi said.

"Hi." Yumi said as she started to walk around them, but Sissi slide in front of her."

"You're the girl who came to school in a limo. How classy."

"Thanks, my parents insisted."

"You know with that kind of confidence, I think we could be friends."

"How nice." Yumi said giving her strained smile.

"So why don't you come sit with us?" Sissi said as she pointed to the table at front. It had a table cloth and candles. It actually looked tacky when you take in the fact that the cafeteria looked like a giant garage.

"No thanks, but I was going to sit with my friends over there." Yumi said, gesturing to Aelita and Jeremie.

"The nerds?" Sissi raised an eyebrow. The blonde, Madison, guffawed, and Amelia just stood there rather absent-mindedly as she twirled a finger in her long, red hair.

"Maybe she's a nerd too." Madison said.

"And what's wrong with that? It just means I'm smarter than you three combined. And I don't have to be a nerd to do that."

"You better watch who you mess with." Sissi glared. "I'll have you know that my father runs this place. He does it out of the goodness of his heart because he knows these commoners need somewhere to learn."

"These commoners have more sense and dignity than you'll ever have."

Sissi looked taken aback. She'd never been insulted. Well there was another person who outwardly insulted her, but she'd let person slide. "Well fine. Sit with your nerd friends. Freak." Sissi spun on her hell and turned around, walking back to her table with her friends following closely behind.

Yumi said down next to Aelita. "Wow!" Aelita squealed. "I thought I'd never meet the day when a person would actually have the guts to put Sissi and her cronies in their places!"

"It was nothing." Yumi smirked as she took a bite out of her apple.

"That was social suicide." Jeremie stated.

"Oh come one, Jeremie. She stuck up for us."

"Thanks." Jeremie said.

"Really, guys, you have to know how to put these girls in their places. If you don't they'll get swelled head and explode . . . Maybe I should've let their heads get big." They all laughed.

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Yumi and Hiroki met up along their way back to the limo that was already parked at the front of the school. "So how was your first day?" Yumi asked.

"It was okay. I met this guy named Patrick. He's cool. Kinda dorky, but that's just how he comes off. I also met this really cool Junior who showed me around the school."

"Well that was really nice of him."

"Yeah. So what about you?"

"I made a few friends. Got confronted by three brats. So overall it was pretty good." They both looked at each other.

"But anything's better than Snobby Pine Hills." They said together and laughed.

As they entered the limo, their mother greeted them. "So how was your first day?"

"Good." They chimed.

"How wonderful." She beamed. "Your father will be relieved. He's still at work of course. He'll be home for dinner."

"So I'm guessing it'll be okay for us to stay here?" Hiroki asked.

"Yes." Yumi and Hiroki high-fived on that answer.

"And can we ditch the limo? I don't really like the idea of people pointing at us every time we step out of it." Yumi asked.

"Hey, I like the limo. A lot of kids were asking me about it." Hiroki said. His mother raised an eyebrow.

"It is a bit of a show-off. But it's your dad that requires it, and he won't budge from it just yet. Give him some time. We can wear him down."

"Well I'll tell you what, Ka-san," Yumi said as leaned back on the soft, leather seat. "It may be low-class, but feels great to be 'regular.'"

That's it! I'm done. This is the first chapter. It's just an introductory chapter. You know, to help you get used to the characters and the setting. The next chapter is still the first day of school, but instead, it's from Ulrich's point of view. And it's appropriately titled.

Chapter 2: First Day for the Bad Boy

The next story I plan to update is The Best of Times the Worst of Times. So keep a lookout for it. If some crazy thing comes up, that might change. You know with me, nothing's set in stone until after it's happened. That would make for a nice quote actually. Well hopefully I can update the story by the end of this week. If you've ever read it, you know how long those chapters can get.


	2. First Day For the Bad Boy

Hey everyone! I'm back. I've finally made my way back to this story. I really like the vibe of this particular chapter. So I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it.

Chapter 2: First Day for the Bad Boy

"Ulrich! Yo! Get up, pal! First day of school today!"

Ulrich's head finally popped through the mess of covers on his bed. He yawned and made his way to the kitchen. He walked in to the sight of his uncle at the stove who was burning the bacon once again.

"You could at least do something with your hair." His uncle said giving him a smile.

"Yeah, I could." Ulrich agreed.

"So were you wearin' those clothes to bed?" his uncle asked referring to the baggy jeans and T-shirt that he had on.

"Well I thought I could get more sleep in if I was already dressed for today." Ulrich joked.

"Well at least you're goin'"

"Hey, I could still skip." His uncle gave him a look that said, "Really?" Ulrich laughed. "Don't worry. I ain't skippin' anymore."

"Good. Your parents wouldn't want any o' that. Speaking of your parents. They wrote you some lettas." His uncle said as he threw two letters on the table in front of Ulrich.

Ulrich ripped open the one on top.

Dear Ulrich,

I'm so proud of you! It's your first day of 11th grade. Just think, you only have two more years and then you graduate! You could be the first Stern to graduate high school! That makes me so proud. I'm sure your father is very proud of you too. I can't wait to see you when you come to visit this Christmas!

With love,

Charlotte Stern aka Mom

Ulrich smiled. He then ripped open the other letter.

Dear Son,

It's the first day again. You got two more years and then you'll be graduating. That's a great accomplishment. I'm proud of you son. You've made me and your mother very proud. It's not every day that the son of two big-time crime lords actually makes it through his school career without a single arrest. Makes me wonder what you're up too. I know you're keeping your nose clean. And you should too. I don't want any "Like Father Like Son" stories happening with us. You're gonna do just fine in the real world once you get that diploma. You could even go to college! Then you'll be the first to graduate HS, and to go to college. I'll be waiting to see you and Roger at Christmas.

See ya then,

Wolfgang Stern aka Dad

"They just wishin' me good luck for the new year, and how they're proud of me. That sorta thing." Ulrich said.

"That's good. We'll see them for Christmas of course. And just so you know." his uncle patted him on his shoulders. "I'm proud of you too. You make us all proud now. Now go on to school. You gonna be late at this rate." Ulrich nodded as he gulped down the rest of his orange juice and headed out the door.

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Ulrich made his way over to his desk and dropped his bag next to it. He plopped down and propped his feet in the chair in front of him.

"Hey, Ulrich!" a boy with rather tall blond hair and a purple splotch yelled. "How's the motorcycle?"

" 'S comin'. My uncle said it'll be ready to ride by the end o' da month."

"Good." Odd chuckled. "Hey, Theo! The motorcycle's almost done!"

"It is? Dang! Your uncle and you work fast, man." Theo said as he took his seat next to Ulrich.

"Now if only I can get me some wheels." Odd said. "I mean, Theo's got a mustang convertible, and now you're gonna have a motorcycle."

"What'chya talkin' about Odd?" Theo said. "You got some wheels. You got that skateboard." Theo laughed. "Maybe you could race me and Ulrich sometime."

"Shut it, Bush Head." Odd said.

"Bush Head. Odd have you seen your hair?" Ulrich said.

"Whateva. I still wanna get me some wheels. Maybe I can get me a van! And then we can get us a portable TV and put in the back, and hang out in it!"

"Sounds good to me. You payin' for that though, right?" Ulrich said.

"Course! You two got your rides with your money. I'll do the same."

"So when we're skipping, Ulrich? I already don't wanna be here." Theo asked.

"Now, Theo. We can't be skippin'. We gotta be here in school. It's important. We need to get ourselves an education. So we can go off to college, and be respectable citizens of this fine city." Ulrich said. The other two were silent. "Psych! I'm just kiddin'." Ulrich laughed and the other two joined in.

"You always makin' us think you got sense, pal." Theo said. "You can't be doin' that to us, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah. I think we'll come for the next coupla days though. I gotta make my Uncle trust me. We can't have him tryin' ta spy on me anymore." The other two nodded.

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When classes started, Ulrich slowly made his way to his History Class when a little kid ran into him. The boy fell down and looked up with a look of fear on his face. "Sorry, mister!" the kid yelled. He jumped up and was about to take off again, but Ulrich grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Whoa kid, slow down. First off, I ain't no mister. I'm Ulrich. And second, what's up with you?"

"There's this guy chasing me, and I gotta go now!" The kid said as he tried to run again.

"Hey, hey, hey! You're new here aren't ya?" Ulrich asked. He may not come to school often, but the boy was Asian, and not a lot of Asians went to Kadic, plus not too many people wore sweater vests on campus. The boy nodded. "You got a name?"

"It's H-Hiroki Ishiyama."

"Ishiyama." Ulrich repeated. "Is that Japanese?" Hiroki nodded. "Cool. You come from the same country that the Yakuza do." Hiroki nodded again. "That's real cool. You eva meet the Yakuza?"

"I've seen some members."

"That's cool. So do they really wear a lotta tats and stuff?"

"Some do. But they don't do as much now."

"You know what? You're okay." Ulrich finally let go of Hiroki and then patted him on the head. At that moment, a tall raven-haired boy came running towards them.

"Oh, so there you are." The boy said in a rather snobbish manner. "You'll do good to stay away from that vagrant. He's trash." The boy said to Hiroki.

"Well dressin' up trash don't make it look or smell any betta, Willie."

"That's William, to you, you imbicile!" William snapped.

"Whatever, Pretty Boy. You been messin' with the middleschoolers huh?"

"So what? He's in my class of people, and he has quite the sister. I just want him to introduce me to her."

"Um, Ulrich. That's not the guy who was chasing me." Hiroki spoke up.

"He ain't?"

"No, he did distract the other guy long enough for me to run away though." Hiroki explained. As if on cue, another built, muscle-bound boy came thundering down the stairs.

"Where's the little California Roll?" the boy roared. "Oh there ya are."

"My goodness. Another piece of trash." William scoffed. "And here comes the rest of the garbage. I'm leaving." William said and walked off as a blonde boy and another raven-haired boy with glasses brought up the rear.

"Well. It's Herve, Nicholas, and the main idiot, Rust. I've been meanin' to ask you. Is that really your name? Rust? Because that's a stupid attempt at a gang name."

"Shut it, Stern!" Rust yelled. "Just leave, and let me take care of that kid."

"What do you want with him? He's a shrimp."

"Hey!"

"Well you are."

"He stepped on my shoe ya see." Rust said showing them a dirty boot. "I just want him to repay me with a new setta boots. It ain't like he don't got the money for it."

"Rust. You gonna need a new shirt and jeans if you don't leave this kid alone."

"You protectin' the little kiddies now?"

"I like this one. He knows about the Yakuza. Plus he's got spunk. And I'd do anything to ruin your day, Rust."

"You askin' for it, Stern. I'll rip you apart."

"You didn't last time. You've been "rusty" with your fightin'. Yeah that was a lame pun. But it fits your lame self. Leave the kid alone. Class has already started. We can't start off with skippin' this early."

Rust glared at Ulrich. "You better be glad the principal threatened to suspend me if I skipped just one day. Let's go you two idiots!"

Hiroki let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Thank you! Thank you so much! You're the best! And the bravest!"

"No prob, kid. Look I can't be late my first day. But if I take you to class, your teacher could get me a pass for my own class. You willin' to help me out?"

"Sure! It's not like I know where it is anyways."

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It was lunchtime now. Ulrich went to go sit with Theo, Odd, and Odd's girlfriend Sam. Odd was sitting on Sam's lap.

"Aww. Now isn't that cute." Ulrich cooed. "I could take a picture." He said as he sat down. Theo laughed, showing his half-chewed hamburger.

"Hey, Ulrich. How's the first day?"

" 'S been okay I guess. What about you Sammie?"

"It's been good."

"She met the new girl." Theo said. "Parently, she's some hot Japanese thing."

"She ain't a thing!" Sam snapped. "She's a rich girl. But she don't act like one."

"That's hot." Theo said bluntly.

"Thought you had a thing for Emily." Ulrich said. Theo sat up and grew quiet.

"Yeah, well. I ain't gotta chance with her. She's hot, but she ain't all that."

"He got turned down." Odd explained. Ulrich laughed, and Theo grabbed the blonde boy by the shirt.

"Shut it, you midget!"

"I'm svelte!" Odd yelled. Sam slapped Theo's hands away.

"Stop you two!"

"Sam, we were talkin' about skippin'. You in?"

"You know I'm not. This is my last year. The last thing I need is for them to hold me back."

"Yeah, but then you could be with us." Theo joked.

"That's Hell." Sam said bluntly. The boys laughed.

"Sam, you're gonna be the first of us to graduate. You gotta go to college and do well and stuff. Don't turn out like the other girls of your kind. You're betta than that." Ulrich said. They were silent. "This time I'm serious. You always had more sense than the rest o' us put togetha. So you gotta do good for us. But we'll be there too. Once we graduate of course." They were still silent. "Psych! Like we're graduatin'! We're too stupid and bad to do somethin' good like that! Have fun in big people school, Sammie!" Ulrich laughed, and the other boys joined. Sam smirked.

"You three could do it. And I'm not dating some high school drop-out, or something that got held back." Sam said mainly towards Odd. Odd quickly went silent.

"Whipped!" Theo yelled.

"She's got you on a short leash!" Ulrich laughed.

"Yeah, well I'll make something out of my life."

"You ain't got the grades nor the skills." Theo said.

"Oh and you do?" Sam said.

"I'm the best soccer player next to Ulrich. We'll be pro players." Ulrich was silent. "You are joining the soccer team this year?"

"Like they want me on the field. I'm the reason we didn't go to the championship last year. All because I got into a fight."

Odd chuckled. "That was no fight, my good friend. That was a massacre. You beat the mess outta the Spikes." The Spikes was a gang of delinquent students from another school.

"Yeah, well the whole team got disqualified for it."

"Shoot, we wouldn't have gotten far if you weren't there." Theo said. "Now you have to play. Soccer's the only thing we actually care about. And your uncle wants you to do something here. So if not soccer, then what, my friend, what?"

"Seeing as I'm hittin' people already, I'm gonna do boxing. That way, I can beat the mess outta all of the guys."

"You'll do good in any sport." Sam said. "You could do track and field with me."

"I could." Ulrich considered. "But I wanna do boxing."

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The final bell rang, and the students began exiting the school. Ulrich and his friends were behind the school, having a smoke.

"I still haven't gotten used to this." Theo said as he coughed.

"Well we all can't be pros at it." Ulrich said as he took a drag.

"It's actually not that bad." Sam said.

"So when are we skippin'?" Theo asked.

"Is that all you and Odd care about?" Ulrich replied, annoyed.

"Yes." Odd said, smiling. Sam shook her head.

"Honestly, I really don't know if I have it in me to skip. My parents really want me to graduate."

"Your parents are in jail. You'll probably be in there if you get caught smokin'." Theo said.

"You're right." Ulrich looked at the cigarette and threw it away.

"You know you're gonna smoke again, tomorrow." Sam said.

"I know." Ulrich said, chuckling. "But I'm done for today. I gotta go home. Gotta finish do my homework. Study for my classes." As he walked off he could hear their silence behind him. He turned around and said, "Psych! Like I care about homework!" Ulrich laughed and walked off. He saw Hiroki waving goodbye to him and he gave a quick wave back as he started down the road towards his house.

As he entered his house, his uncle yelled from the garage, "How was school?"

" 'S okay." Ulrich said as he dropped his bag on the couch. "Any new customers?"

"Yeah, the old lady down street wants her oil changed. If you finish your homework first and study a bit, I'll let you help me, and I'll let you have some of the funds too."

"Okay." Ulrich said as he got out his math book. "I'll try, but you know math's not my strong suit."

"Ridiculous! Every Stern use math when it comes to money. Think of it that way."

"I'll try." Ulrich mumbled.

"How's Odd, Theo, and Sam?"

"They're good. Sam's psyched for her last year."

"You'll feel the same way when you're a senior. And just think, when you're 20, your parents will be out too."

"Yeah. Me graduatin- and goin' ta college." Ulrich didn't believe that for a second. He did everything his parents wanted him to do. He studied. He did his homework. He stayed in school. He fell off every now and then what with the smoking and skipping. But the way Ulrich saw it was what William said. He was trash. And trash doesn't become anything more than that. He'd keep trying. But he knew he was destined to fail. He was just waiting for it to happen.

I'm done! I didn't think I'd finish this in a go, but I did. I really like this chapter, but I gotta say, the dialogue takes a bit of thinking of. I wanted Ulrich and the others to sound like they were really delinquents and pretty much like common folk (totally not an insult to anyone who does talk lie this).

So here's a look at the next chapter. It's a month later, and Yumi's really fitting in with the school, while Ulrich's counting the days to his expected expulsion. But when it looks like Ulrich's grades might his ticket out, he gets a tutor that starts to turn things around. Meanwhile, Yumi's been attracting the attention of several boys, and it's really starting to get on her nerves.

Find out what happens in Chapter 3: Seriously!


	3. Seriously!

Hey everyone! I got another chapter for you! So here it is.

Chapter 3: Seriously!

"Hiroki, hurry up," Yumi shouted to her little brother. After a month of going to school in the family limo (not to mention begging, complaining, and whining), their parents were finally letting them walk to school instead. Hiroki ran down the stairs and jumped down the last few steps. He stood there beaming at his sister.

"Are you ready?" Hiroki asked. Yumi nodded.

"Hold on, you two," Mr. Ishiyama said. They frowned. "Don't be that way. I just want to let you know, that I don't want you wandering off to or definitely from school. You come straight home. And if you do need to go somewhere, you call us and let us know," he said strictly.

"Yes sir," they mumbled.

"Are you sure you want to walk?" Mrs. Ishiyama said, joining the conversation. "If it's the limo that bothers you, we could take the Lexis." She offered. They shook their heads. "The mustang? Well fine. You keep watch of any suspicious characters."

"Don't worry mom. I've been practicing boxing, remember. I can protect us both," Hiroki said taking a boxing stance.

"I am not counting on a month's worth of boxing to save you from hooligans," she replied.

"I still don't understand why you chose boxing of all sports to participate in." their father said, shaking his head.

"It's because of his dear, idol, Ulrich. He's in boxing," Yumi said, rolling her eyes.

"Ulrich? I'll have to look into him,"

"Dad." Hiroki whined. "He's a great guy. He's like a big brother to me. He looks out for me and everything."

"He probably just wants to get in good with us,"

"At least he's made some friends, Takeo," their mother pointed out. "Maybe we should invite him over so we can get to know him, if it bothers you so much."

"I thought we could bring anyone over," Yumi spoke up.

"You're not. We are."

"I don't want anyone in the house until I do a thorough background check," Mr. Ishiyama declared. His wife shrugged and left it at that.

"We'll never have a normal social life," Yumi muttered to her brother. He nodded.

"You got that right."

3333333333333333

Ulrich pulled into the parking lot of the school. He slowed his newly built motorcycle to a stop, and jumped off. Odd and Theo were leaning on Theo's car. Odd whistled. "Dang! That bike is goooooood!"

"It's slammin'," Theo stated. Ulrich smirked.

"Now we just need you to get yoself a setta wheels." Ulrich said to his blonde friend.

"'S okay. I'm working on it."

"Watchya gonna get?" Theo asked.

"I'm gonna get me a van that we can party in wit some girls," Odded nodded his head just thinking about it.

"Now that sounds like a plan," Ulrich said.

"I'll see if my old man has any vans in the junkyard. Ulrich and his unc can fix it up for ya, and then we'll get us some chicks," Theo gave a cheesy grin as he rubbed his hands together at the prospect. "I'm gonna try again with Emily. Maybe she'll say yes."

"She won't," Ulrich replied. Odd laughed as Theo frowned at his fellow brunette.

"Oh and who are you gonna bring along for a ride?"

"Count me outta yo love affairs. I'm stayin' clean and innocent for my one and only. I want my marriage to mean sumthin' ta me," Ulrich stated. The other two boys stared at him. "Psych! Like I'm gonna be a virgin and all innocent! Shoot! I'll probably never marry." The other two then howled with laughter.

"You get us every time!" Odd said. "You's a good liar."

"If ya spoke better, you could be one them lawyers on the TV shows. Maybe even a judge," Theo added.

"Me a lawyer? Shoot I'm gonna need me a lawyer, with the stuff I do. Smokin'; fightin';vandalizin'. I'm just no good. But speakin' of marriage. You ever thought about bein' with Sam like that?"

Odd grew quiet. Which ironically said a lot. "Actually . . . I have. She's a fine lady. You know we've been datin' for a year, and I still haven't gotten wit her?"

"Boy watchya waitin' for?" Theo said.

"You know Sam. She likes manners and morals and stuff. She actually does wanna wait 'til marriage."

"You gonna hold out?" Ulrich asked.

"I wanna. That's the thing that gets me. You know she's different from us. She actually wants to get outta poverty and stuff. She wants ta go ta college."

"Aww she makin' you soft," Theo cooed.

"Shut up."

"Well that's good. You two make a find couple. A bit too PDA-ish, but I can see why you'd wanna. She's a fine girl." Ulrich admitted.

"You lookin' at my girl, Stern?" Odd said mockingly.

"Yeah. Watchya gonna do about it?" Ulrich challenged. They both stared each other down. Then they broke out laughing. Their goofing off was cut short by the late bell.

"Dang, we late for homeroom," Theo said. "Well no point in goin' now." They all laughed as they continued goofing off and slowly made their way inside the school.

33333333333

The day was going at a rather slow pace, which was not good for Yumi. At least not at this moment. It was time for her Health class. The class that she hated the most because every guy in the classroom went out of their way to flirt with her. It's not like she hadn't been hit on before. But the pick-up lines and the moves they tried to put on her just gave her migraines. They were all arrogant, lustful, and just plain dumb. To make matters worse, it was the only class that she didn't have with any of her friends.

She took her seat at the front of the classroom. Everyone just loitered around and randomly chose a seat. Because of this, she never really had the same idiot sitting next to her. It was always someone different, and normally they were dumber and more pushy.

"Okay, class. Settle down. Find a desk and sit in it already," Mr. Smick mumbled.

Soon, a tall raven-haired boy who was dressed in a sweater vest and khakis came up to her. "Excuse me. Is this seat occupied?" he asked politely. Manners! The male population did know they exist!

She smiled. "No." Maybe she wouldn't be pestered by a boy like this. He was cute actually.

"My name is William, by the way. William Dunbar."

"I'm Yumi Ishiyama," she replied. He gave her a rather charming smile. 'Maybe health won't be so bad after all.' Yumi thought.

33333333333333

"Mr. Stern, do you really think you can afford to be skipping your math class?" Mr. Delmas, the principal of Kadic, asked the boy. Ulrich, Odd, and Theo were caught skipping and were brought to the principal's office. The principal was now reprimanding them individually.

"Honestly, I can't afford nuthin'," Ulrich snickered. Mr. Delmas frowned.

"Mr. Stern, are aware that you're failing your math class? If you continue to skip, you'll fail."

"Ain't nuthin' new. I've never been good at it anyways. I'm just wastin' away in there."

"No. You're wasting away now by not taking the initiative and being a responsible student. Now it's only been a month since we started. I'm sure you can bring your grade . . . grades up by the end of the quarter."

"I told you. I suck at math."

"Well then I'm going to appoint you a tutor."

"What?"

"A tutor. I've already asked your uncle. He's more than willing to allow you to stay here in the afternoons for study sessions."

"This is a joke." Ulrich said, shaking his head. "It ain't gonna work. I'm still gonna fail."

"I don't understand why you feel this way? You're not even trying!"

"Because I ain't got no reason ta try. I'm no good. So let's leave it at that."

"Ulrich. You're going to go to these tutor sessions. Because if you don't, you will be suspended. And I know you don't want that to happen. Your uncle told me to tell you that if you ever got suspended, to kiss your motorcycle goodbye." Ulrich frowned. Uncle Roger knew what he was doing when he gave that bike to Ulrich. It was just something to keep Ulrich straight. Ulrich sighed.

"Fine. Whateva." He said.

3333333333333333

It was now lunchtime, and the mood at the two tables was very . . . murky. "What's wrong, Yumi?" Aelita asked the sullen girl.

"Just when I think I've met a decent guy who doesn't have tattoos or piercings. Someone who doesn't look like they have a criminal record that's longer than the Guinness Book of World Records, or someone who doesn't smell like cigarette smoke, or have a scar or bruise or their face, someone who looks like they have some sense, and he turns out to be the most annoying of them all!"

"I sense danger." Jeremie said.

"What happened?" Aelita asked.

"William Dunbar is a jackass," Yumi said.

"Ahh, the Prince."

"He is not a prince."

"We know he's a troll. But you try telling him that," Jeremie replied.

"He constantly asked me out. Then when I turned him down, he started bragging about his cars. No not car, but cars. As in more than one. Like I give a crap. Then he started bragging about how he was captain of the soccer team, and how he was now leading us to the championships. We barely won the last game! In fact we've tied and one by shootout for every single game so far."

"It's only been two matches, Yumi." Jeremie pointed out. Yumi glared at him.

"Who cares! I don't! I thought it was bad when the other guys flirted with me. But it's like he's flirting with himself!" I can't take it anymore. And if I get one more love letter in my stinking locker, I'll kill someone!"

"Hi, Yumi, Cedric from the basketball team told me to give you this." Emily said as she handed him a cursed love letter and took her seat next to her. Emily started sitting with them earlier that month. She was one of the rich, popular girls, but after her dad got laid off, she found herself without a friend. It was very humbling, but she was never really about that life. She found comfort and sympathy in Aelita who practically threatened her to come and eat lunch with them when she found out the poor girl's plight.

"Don't give that to me! Throw it in the trash! In fact burn it!"

"But you haven't even read it yet," Emily said. "Don't you want to know what it says?"

"I already know what it says. Dear Yumi, I think you're the prettiest girl in school. I stare at you all day. I think about you all the time. I've never really been into Chinese girls, but you're definitely different. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to get a shirt that says, 'I'M NOT CHINESE! I'M JAPANESE BAKA!'" Yumi yelled.

Aelita and Jeremie were leaning back as if to avoid the girl's rage. "Um, Yumi," Aelita began, "people are staring."

"Let them stare. That's all the boys do apparently. It doesn't matter anyways."

"Well is there one boy you like?" Emily asked. Yumi thought long and hard on this.

"Nope. Nobody. They're all scum." Jeremie cleared his throat. "Well except for you, Jer, but you're taken."

"And I'm not giving him up," Aelita stated. Yumi sighed.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just fed up with all of this. Guess I learned my lesson. Looks are definitely not everything. Sometimes the good-looking ones are actually worse."

"It's such a shame too because that doesn't leave us with too many choices," Emily stated.

"Well to change the subject," Aelita began, "I'm now a tutor. I start today."

"Who are you tutoring?" Yumi asked.

" . . . Ulrich Stern." Jeremie spit out his milk.

"WHAT? NO! THAT IS NOT TRUE! NOT TRUE!"

"Jeremie, sit down," Emily whispered.

"And calm down, it's not that bad," Yumi said. Jeremie and Emily looked at her, their eyeballs bulging out of their sockets. Aelita just looked away, hoping that she could just remove herself from this.

"Ulrich Stern is a delinquent." Emily said.

"He is?"

"Yes! You have heard of the Bad Boy haven't you?" Jeremie asked. She nodded. Everyone knew about the Bad Boy aka the Killer of Kadic. He was supposedly the bully of the bullies. A gang buster. He was known to pick fights with any and every one. He had never lost a fight—even when he was up against a gang of delinquents. They say he was easy on the eyes, but no girl in her right mind would ever date him. They didn't want to run the risk of getting . . . "taken advantage of."

"But those are just rumors. You just call him the Bad Boy. Like you're scared to say his name. Who is he, Voldemort?" Yumi laughed.

"Ulrich Stern is called The Number One Bad Boy," replied.

"It's him? But that doesn't make any sense, he hangs out with Hiroki."

"Your brother needs to find a new friend," Jeremie said.

"He saved Hiroki from being bullied—almost everyday mind you."

"That's because he doesn't waste his time on easy prey. He's the predator of the predators. He always goes for those at the top of the food chain. Everyone's scared of him," Emily informed.

"They even say that his parents are in jail for mass murder," Jeremie said.

"Now you know that's a lie," Aelita finally spoke up. "He is a fighter, but you don't seem to realize that he only beats up the bad guys."

"You make him sound like a superhero," Yumi said.

"To your brother and all of the other middle schoolers, he is one."

"And he's the one you're tutoring?"

"Aelita you can't. He'll eat you alive! He might . . . do things to you!"

"I've known Ulrich a lot longer than any of you have. He hangs out with my cousin, you know," Aelita stated.

"You mean, Odd?" Yumi asked. Aelita nodded. "Odd's a delinquent, though. You can't really trust his word."

"I'm like a sister to him. He'd never lie to me. He keeps good company though. His girlfriend is Sam, you know. You've met him. He's not all that bad."

"Well he's definitely better than the boys here."

"He and Ulrich are best friends. It's him, Ulrich, and Theo."

"Ugh." Emily grunted. "Theo keeps asking _me _out."

"Theo doesn't seem that bad, though. He asked me out once. He was using fancy words and everything," Yumi laughed. "It was kinda cute and adorable."

"Then you go out with him," Emily said. "You two would make a great couple!"

"Nope. I don't know him well enough to do that."

"Oh stop talking about that!" Jeremie said. "Aelita's life is about to end! She's going to be killed tonight because of that psycho murderer."

"No I won't. I'll be fine. I'm going to tutor him, and that's that."

3333333333333

Ulrich sat down at the table and looked at the other boys' faces. Odd was stuffing his mouth, and Theo was trying to suppress a laugh.

"So what happened?" Sam finally asked.

"We skipped math class,"

"And you got caught," Sam concluded. She shook her head. "I knew this would happen. So what's the punishment?"

"I have to do school volunteerin' for a month," Odd answered.

"I gotta do that too," Theo said.

"I got me a tutor for math." Ulrich said rolling his eyes.

"For reals?" Theo asked. Ulrich nodded.

"Well that sucks. Guess yo math sucks too, huh?" Odd joked. Ulrich glared at him. "Sorry, but I think it's kinda funny."

"Well it ain't. I might get the bike taken away if I get suspended. So no more skippin' for me." Theo and Odd groaned.

"Then what we gonna do?" Theo yelled.

"Skip yaself. What you need me for?"

"Two boys skippin' is not a good idea. You know that, Ulrich," Odd said.

"Well it was fun while it lasted."

"You really gonna do the tutorin'?" Theo asked.

"Uh-huh. It's with your cuz, Odd. Aelita, was it?"

"She's smart. But you be nice. You don't get a lotta nice cuzes like her," Odd commented.

"Whateva. I jus' wanna get this over with."

3333333333333

"Okay, you got excellent form. You're definitely in shape for your debut match next week." Tim stated to Ulrich. Tim was the boxing coach and best friend of Jim who everyone knew as the PE teacher. "Now you take it easy these next coupla weeks, and we could win this thing." Ulrich nodded. He was really beginning to enjoy boxing.

"Hey, Ulrich! Look at this!" Hiroki called out. Hiroki then took a fighting stance and performed a combo as he started shadowboxing. Ulrich smiled. "You got the speed and the agility. But what you's need is better aim. You get the precision right, you could be a little beast," Ulrich stated. Hiroki nodded and immediately started practicing on his aim. Before he could get into it, his sister called him.

"Hiroki. We have to go now!"

"Come on! I'm just getting the hang of this. I could win my first match next week. But I gotta work my precision."

"Well do it later. We have to go, or do you want mom and dad picking us up again?" Hiroki sighed. As he took off his head gear and gloves.

"Don't you have gymnastics to do?"

"No, that was yesterday. Today was dancing, and that ended just like it's time for boxing to end."

Hiroki turned to Ulrich. "She does everything. Gymnastics, dancing, AND she knows martial arts. She's got too much time on her hands because she's all alone."

"Hiroki!" Yumi growled.

"I'd never want to fight her in the ring." Hiroki said.

"I can see why you have to be quick on your feet. She'd kill ya huh?" Hiroki nodded. "Well you go ahead. I got tutorin' anyways."

"Tutoring?"

"Yeah, I gotta keep my grades up. So you gotta know when ta stop the fun and hit the books. See? You get to hit people AND books. Now ain't that great?" Hiroki laughed.

"Bye, Ulrich."

Yumi was in deep thought about what was said at the lunch table. Was Ulrich really the hero Hiroki and Aelita made him out to be? Or was the rotten king of all the males at this school? He seemed nice just now, but maybe it was just around his friends. She didn't like the idea of Hiroki hanging around someone so dangerous. She'd have to keep a close eye on Ulrich just in case.

33333333333333

Aelita set up her books and notebooks. She was ready to teach Ulrich Pre-calculus. And she was going to prove to Jeremie and the others that he wasn't as cruel and vicious that everyone made him out to be. Once she finished, she looked up to see Ulrich shuffling in. His hands were in his pockets, he was looking around the library as if he'd never been there. He had a toothpick in his mouth, and looked very frustrated. It was intimidating.

"H-Hi, Ulrich. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm—,"

"Odd's cuz, yeah I know." He then pulled out a chair and plopped into it. He then propped his feet onto the table and leaned back. Aelita felt offended. Didn't everyone know not to put your feet on furniture? Especially in the library! Appalling!

"Um, so I thought that we could help you in your problem areas. So what exactly are you having trouble with?"

"Everything."

" . . . Okay. So maybe we'll start with the basics."

"One plus one equals two." Ulrich smirked.

" . . . That's not what I meant, but good start. How about we start with limits."

"My limit is a 57. I can only get that high on a test with this calculo mumbo jumbo."

Aelita was getting angry. And that was normally a hard thing to do unless you were The Prisses. "Look, I know you may not want to be here. But I think that I can really help you with your math."

"'S a lost cause."

"No. It's not. You can do this."

"I ain't good at math, and I'll neva be good at it." Ulrich stated.

"So what, do you want to fail? You think that's cool or something? You're giving up before you even try. What kind of a move is that?"

"'S a wasta time. I'll fail no matta what. I've tried to get that stuff, but it just don't sink in. I don't wanna waste your time. So let's jus' end this here."

"No."

Ulrich snorted. "And why not? 'S my grade. I won't complain about ya to da principal."

"This is your life. You realize you fail this class you can't graduate."

"I neva was gonna anyways."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm a failure! I can't graduate. I'm not capable of pullin' somethin' that smart off."

"Yet you can single-handedly beat up the Skull Bashers—one of the most notorious gangs in France. You really expect me to believe that you're not smart? You have to be to just survive."

"That's different."

"No it's not. You're constantly thinking. You know when people are lying to you. You can read people like a book. And I've never seen you let anyone con you out of a deal when it came to money. You gotta know math to know money."

"But you need money. So I gotta know that stuff."

"Then turn this into a money situation."

Ulrich was entertained by this pinkette. She was a sweet, innocent girl who probably saw the good in everyone. "You naïve or somthin'?"

"No. I just don't like to give up on people, especially when they've already given up themselves."

"And what kinda sense does that make?"

"If I did, and something happened, I could never forgive myself. I believe you can do it. You can pass this class, and you can graduate. You're not that bad of guy as everyone makes you out to be!"

Ulrich laughed. "Have you heard what they say? Cause some of it is true. My parents are in jail, and they are murderas." Aelita was taken aback by this statement. "Well they wasn't mass murderas. They were the leadas of top crime syndicate in France. Drug cartelling, killin', stealin', extortionin', . . . um lemme think . . . oh yeah! They did kidnappin', ransomin', grand theft auto—shoot they did it all." They were Wolfgang and Charlotte, aka the Wolfman and Black Widow." This made Aelita's blood run cold. It was way worse than even Jeremie thought! Anyone who lived in France for at least the past five years knew who the Wolfman and Black Widow were. Asides from characters in literature, they were known as the couple of pure love and evil. They were the youngest people to ever to control the French Mafia. His parents were in the mafia!

"That's why you feel that way. I'm sorry I didn't know,"

"What you apologizin' for? It ain't yo fault," Ulrich said, sitting up. "'S no one's but their own." Ulrich looked away. He had a sad look on his face.

"D-Do you know your parents well? Do they talk to you?"

"They do. They want me to graduate too. But I can't,"

"Because you're their son." Aelita concluded. Ulrich nodded. "But they think you can do it! They obviously don't care about that."

"They don't know everything I do. Not even my uncle know everything I do! The only thing I can do well is fight. I'm just gonna be a crook just like my parents."

"And yet you fight the bullies. You protect the middle schoolers, and you bust up more gangs than the cops have in the past decade. You do good (granted in a violent, and rather wrong way), and you have a kind heart."

"How would you know?"

"I've seen you do it! I've heard it from Odd and from Hiroki, and all of the other middle school kids!" Aelita exclaimed. "You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be. Why do you feel like you're such trash when they don't think of you that way?"

"Because I don't live up to society's standards. 'S just them. They see me, and they know I'm a delinquent. They rule me out before I even get a chance. Screw the diploma, I won't end up anywhere because no one wants to deal with someone who looks like trouble. They hear the name Stern, and they tremble in fear. Everyone hates my parents, and they think that I'm devil spawn! The cops are just waitin' for the day that I slip up, and get arrested so they can have the whole family. It don't matta what I can do because no one wants me to do anything. They don't think I can do anything. I'm devil spawn. I'm the devil's kid." Ulrich's voice cracked. He took in a deep breath.

"No one wants to give me a chance because they know where I come from. I can't even get a job because they think I might steal from them or sumthin'. I can't even get a girlfriend because they think I might hurt them or worse. Teachers always think that I start the fights. Teachers think that I'm the one who steals school items. Teachers think I'm the one who spray paints the walls, and vandalizes the property. They think I'm the one who damages the cars and teepees houses, and everything. No matter how much good I do. The evil that my parents committed is the only thing they see. And they see it in me. Because deep down, I guess it is there. I don't wanna do bad. I wanna do good. But how can I when no one won't even aknowledge the good that I have done, or give me a chance to do any more. People are angry when I stop break-ins or robberies because they think I got some hidden agenda. So what am I supposed to do, huh? What do I do?"

"You prove them wrong. You know it's not true. Isn't that enough? If you keep proving them wrong, they'll have no choice but to believe you."

"They won't. I used to get straight A's, and come to school everyday, but they always doubted me. They want me to fail just to keep the status quo."

"But there are a lot of people who have bad pasts, and they succeed! You don't need them! You just need you. You have friends! You have people who trust you, and know you! That's all you need."

"My friends aren't really normal people either. They trust me because we're all the same kind. The trash sticks togetha."  
"They surely don't think that." Aelita refused to believe that Odd and the others would have that low of an opinion of themselves let alone Ulrich.

"Well they do. They expect me to act a certain way because of it. I can't share my true thoughts and feelin's."

"Share them with me." Ulrich looked up. "Share them with me. I'll listen to you. I don't think that way of you. And I'm sure they don't. Just try. Be honest to them for once. Because if they truly feel that way, then you don't need them—not even my cousin. Please, Ulrich, just don't give up."

Ulrich stared at Aelita. He was greatly confused. She stood there, destroying everything that he believed to be true by just standing there. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because I like to help people. I don't like it when people hurt and fail. I want everyone to be happy, even you. And it's not fair that people like you and Odd have to go through these things. It's not fair that just because Odd grew up in a poverty that he's treated one way, while I'm treated another. But it happens."

"You don't judge others so carelessly, do ya?" Aelita shook her head. Ulrich smiled. "Tell ya what. I'll give this math a try. And you talk to your cousin. Cause he misses ya. I don't know what happened to between yas, but that ain't my business. I don't want you wastin' your time. So I'm gonna try. Okay? Ya happy?" Aelita beamed.

"I'm happy."

"Good, cause you wear me out." Ulrich said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Aelita asked.

"Aren't we done?"

"We haven't even gotten started!"

"Oh yeah! I'm sorry. I guess it slipped my mind." Ulrich winked.

"Nice try. But we're going over this no matter what." Aelita said.

Okay, I'm done! That took forever! But it's done. I like this. It's coming along nicely. I know you probably thought that Yumi was the tutor, but that was too easy. I wanted it to be Aelita because I thought she would be sweet enough to not give up on Ulrich. But don't worry; it all serves a purpose, so they will come together eventually. So review and tell me what you think!


	4. The Angelic Dragon

Hey everyone! I'm back, and I've got some great ideas for this chapter, so I thought I'd get started on it right away. I'm loving everything about this story so far. It's fun for me, and I hope it's fun for you too. So here it is!

Chapter 4: The Angelic Dragon

October seem to be slowly passing by. It had only been a week since Aelita had started tutoring Ulrich, but it seemed as if they'd been at it for months. At least that's how it felt to Jeremie. Everyday he'd stubbornly complain and moan about Aelita's "gambling with death." He'd tell anyone that would listen (and that was normally Yumi or Emily) how he feared for Aelita's safety and wellbeing.

"Jeremie, I care about Aelita too," Yumi said while they both walked through the halls. "But you're starting to become more annoying than the boys in my health class. And I'd preferred if they all had their vocal cords violently ripped out of their throats.

This instantly shut Jeremie up . . . well at least for a minute it did. "That's almost as violent as Ulrich. I wouldn't be surprised if he's ripped out someone's vocal cords. If anyone could, it's him," Jeremie mumbled out loud. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Just calm down. It's been a week, and she's perfectly fine. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"That's what you think. He's just biding his time. He's waiting for the right moment to strike," Jeremie persisted.

"Look, I've got better things to do than worry about people who are in no danger at all. I got health. And trust me, that's danger with an emphasis on the anger part. And the D probably stands for Die, because that's what I feel like screaming at everyone in there," she replied darkly. With that she made her way to her eternal doom.

44444444444444

"Hello, Yumi!" Aelita chirped. It was now time for lunch. Somehow, Yumi made it through Hell(th).

"Why are you so happy?" Yumi raised an eyebrow at the girl. Who could be this bubbly? It's Monday for crying out loud! You should never be happy on Mondays! NEVER!

Aelita took a moment to ponder. "I dunno. I just feel so great for some reason. I think it's because today is the moment of truth."

"The moment of truth for what?"

"Ulrich gets his math test score today, and I'm just so excited to find out what he made."

"You know. You are so sweet. Not many people would actually care about someone's grades. None of the other tutors do. They get extra credit or volunteer hours either way," Yumi commented.

"Yeah, but I think I'm making a difference in Ulrich's life. I could be what keeps him on his path to a promising future."

" 'Ey, Strawberries!" a gruff voice called. They both turned to see Ulrich. He was sitting at his table with his other friends. His feet were propped up on the table as he carelessly leaned backed. He then held a piece of paper, and said, "I gots me a B, baby! That's B for Bangin'!" he chuckled. Aelita squealed.

"Ulrich, I'm so proud of you!" She ran up to the delinquent and gave him a bear hug. Which was more of a teddy bear squeeze actually, but it was the best she could do.

"And it's all thanks to you," Ulrich said as he patted her on the head like she was some adorable puppy. "And as celebration for this momentous occasion, I present you this pink fedora hat. Saw it in da store. Made me think of you. See. 'S even got a band wit strawberries around it. 'S cute, right?"

"It's wonderful!" Aelita chirped as she took the hat. I love it! But I can't accept it!"

"But you must. I have to return da fava. Not many people willin' to put up wit me, so this is a token of our friendship."

"Oh, thank you!" Aelita said as she gave him another endearing teddy bear squeeze. He simply ruffled her hair as he took the hat and placed it on her head.

Aelita then turned back to Yumi and started walking to her table. She then turned towards Yumi who was giving her a peculiar look.

"What?" she asked candidly.

"So how's tutoring really going?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean is there something going on between you and Ulrich?"

Aelita blinked, and looked at Yumi, oblivious of what she was getting at. "Wait, do you mean—no! How silly!" Aelita said as she laughed out loud. "There's nothing going on. He's like a big brother. And I'm his little sister. He said so himself."

"Okay. Whatever you say, _Strawberries." _

"That's his nickname for me. He sometimes give nicknames to his friends. He's a sentimentalist at heart. He just doesn't like to show it."

"Right." Yumi said, sarcastically. They then joined Emily and Jeremie who were already eating their lunch.

"Hey. Nice hat," Emily remarked.

"That is a nice hat. Where'd you get it? I've never seen it before. I didn't know you were hat person at all." Jeremie stated.

"Ulrich gave it to me." There was a very awkward silence after this statement. Emily choked on her carrots, Yumi snorted and tried to hold in her laughter, and Jeremie dropped his spork and went bug-eyed.

"Ulrich! Oh no no no no no! You must certainly dispose of it! It might be possessed! It could be tainted with Satan's evil! Get rid of it! He could've cursed it in order to kill you!"

"I thought Ulrich was a delinquent, not a druid." Emily joked.

"Jeremie, stop being a prick," Aelita shouted. "You need to give him a chance!"

"And another thing! Why is he giving you gifts anyways? I bet he likes you. He's trying to steal your heart!"

"What? So he can eat it?" Yumi joked.

"No. He's going sacrifice it to the devil. That's what delinquents do these days," Emily responded. They both laughed. Jeremie glared at them.

"This is no laughing matter! Aelita, I don't like this at all! Is he trying to date you? I'm serious here!"

"No! It's a token of our friendship."

"More like affection!"

"It's not like that! Besides, I only need you Jer Bear," Aelita cooed. This made Jeremie blush.

"Well I still don't like it. I trust you, however. But I know how easy it is for some big, strong guy like Ulrich to come along, and sweep a girl off her feet."

"I never really thought of Ulrich being the romantic type. He seems too insensitive for that," Yumi commented.

"I thought you didn't like romantic, gushy stuff anyways," Aelita pointed out.

"Great, then he's perfect for you, Yumes. Go get him!" Emily said.

"My brother would love it if I dated him. He'd probably have us married before we knew it. Just so he can finally have himself the big brother he always wanted."

"That's sweet though. Ulrich normally does end up fighting the middle schoolers' battles, but he's never really been a role model or a hero to any of them. I think that's the reason why he's been giving this boxing thing a real try. Your brother's good, so I've heard," Emily responded.

"Did you hear that from Theo?" Yumi cooed.

Emily blushed. "Maybe. He's like a tic! He just sticks to me! I can't get rid of him."

"Maybe it's not tics that's got you going, but love bugs instead." Aelita teased.

"Well he isn't all that bad, really," Emily said, flustered.

"Why last week, you said he was annoying and obnoxious." Yumi said.

"That was before Theo came to her rescue last Friday." Jeremie said. The girls all looked at him. "You see, Emily's ex was pestering her, and who came to her aid like a knight in shining armor? It was our very own love-crazed, Theo."

"Ex? What ex?" Yumi questioned. She never knew about Emily's past love life. She really didn't know anything about her love life at all, actually.

"Well, when I was with the Prisses, we'd make what we called the Devilish Dating Dare. It's pretty much where we each take turns dating someone that the others dared us to go out with. I was dared to date Russell Thomps."

"Who's that?

Emily gave Yumi a weary look. "Rust." She muttered under her breath.

"Rust? You mean the big ugly giant who hits on me in Hell . . .th?" Emily nodded.

"Are you stupid?"

"I was when I was with the Prisses. When you're rich, you can afford to be dumb. But seeing as I'm not, I've smartened up in a lot of ways."

"Good to hear. But that's awful. Rust was your boyfriend. Eww!"

444444444

" 'Ey, Ulrich! You goin' home?" Sam asked. It was finally the end of the day. "We was goin' to the arcade if you wanna come?"

"Nah. I gotta stay here."

"What you got more tutorin' or sumthin'?" Theo asked.

"Nah, I got today off because of my B. I got extra practice today. You know the boxing match is in two days, so the coach wants to give us a pep talkin' 'n' stuff."

"Well we can't wait ta see you knock the teeth outta your opponent." Odd said.

"Opponent. That's a big word for you, Odd." Theo joked.

"Shut up," Odd said as he punched Theo in the arm.

"Well okay, then. Guess we'll catch ya lata." Sam said as she, Odd, and Theo walked to the parking lot.

While Ulrich turned around to make his way to the gym, he ran into Amelia, one of the Prisses.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see—oh, it's you," Ulrich grumbled.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She glared.

"Don't gotta mean nothin'." They simply just stared at each other.

"Amelia! Come here, and stop gawking at the peasant boy." Sissi screeched.

"Your queen is callin',"

"Shut it, Stern! You're just trash, so stop talking to me!" Amelia said, loud enough for Sissi and Madison to hear. They both laughed. "Take care, Stern." She whispered quickly to him and turned around to catch up with her friends."

Ulrich tightened his jaw and clenched his fist. He was going to say something, but decided against it. Amelia was an entirely different matter of his life that he'd rather avoid if necessary.

4444444444

Ulrich parked his motorcycle outside of the garage and proceeded into the house. Upon entering, he dropped his bag on the floor and plopped down on the couch. He had just gotten back from boxing practice, and was a bit winded. His uncle entered a second later.

"Hey. So how was school?" Uncle Roger asked.

" 'S okay. Oh! I got me a B on my math," Ulrich grinned.

Uncle Roger beamed. "You got a what? Man, you haven't gotten one of those in math in a long time!"

"I know! Feel good really."

"Look at you. A scholar," Uncle Roger said as he slapped him on his back. "Good work. Oh, I can take off for your boxin' match. I'll have all my car work done before then."

"That's cool. You workin' on a car now?"

"Just finished in fact. Now get started on that homework, and I'll have dinner done."

When they finally sat down to eat, the phone rang. Roger answered. "Yeah?" He then glanced at Ulrich and turned his back to him. He was mumblin' under his breath, but Ulrich could hear bits and pieces. It was something like, "Sorry it's late; I can have it by the end of the week; My apologies; Do better next time."

"What was that?" Ulrich asked.

"Well it ain't like it was for you." His uncle snapped. "It was a customer callin' about a car. I was late fixin' it. Needed more work done on it than I thought," Roger then stared at his dinner and concentrated on eating it. Ulrich stared at his uncle. He knew he was lying.

"I was thinkin', Ulrich finally said, "Maybe it's time I got a job."

"No."

"Why not?"

"What you need one for? I take care of us just fine. And you got schoolin' to worry 'bout. How you gonna do that, and box, and keep a job? Sides, I pay you to help me fix these cars."

"Yeah, but I wanna get us some money. I wanna help out."

"You help with the cars. That's good enough."

"You been doin' that by yourself lately. I wanna get me a set job, and make some money to help out."

"Well it ain't happenin'."

"But why not? We need the money!"

"No we don't. I got the bills and mortgage taken care of ."

"Uncle, you're barely payin' them though. Let me help."

"No! You gotta focus on your schoolin!" Roger yelled. "You go workin' you won't have time for studyin', and for hangin' out wit your friends! You're a teenager. You need to be one until you graduate."

"My friends got jobs."

"Your friends help your parents out with their jobs. Isn't that what you told me? They doin' the same thing you're doin'. And you ain't your friends. I want you to focus on schoolin'. It's not your responsibility to go worryin' 'bout bills and stuff. That's my job. Now let me do the job your mom and pops left me to do!" Roger yelled. He slapped the table and stood up, ending the discussion.

44444444

It was finally the first boxing matches of the school year. And with Ulrich joining the team, Kadic felt really good about its chances of having someone winning the city championship.

"Hiroki, breathe, sweetie." Mrs. Ishiyama said to her son. "You too, Takeo."

"How do you expect me to be calm when our child is about to go participate in violence? This is barbaric!"

"Dad, I'm in martial arts. How is this any different?" Yumi said.

"It's not! That's barbaric too!"

"Yeah, but you want your little girl to be able to take care of herself, right?"

"I just don't understand why you have to compete. Isn't just learning good enough?"

"But how will . . . we know if . . . we're any good?" Hiroki asked, taking in deep breaths in between.

"Well that's why you pray to make sure you never have to find out."

"Good luck, bro," Yumi said as she ruffled his hair. Hiroki hugged his family and went to go sit with his fellow competitors.

"Yumi," Takeo said, "now which boy is Ulrich?" Yumi looked through the line of boxers and then saw a tall, built brunette leaning back in his chair.

"The one on the farthest right," She said, pointing the way.

"My goodness. He's got some huge arms for a highschooler. I wonder what kind of diet he's on." Her mother commented.

"He looks like a brawler. I don't like this. Are you sure he's a good kid?"

"As far as I know," Yumi said. _'But I don't know much.' _She thought to herself.

It was at that moment that a man who was sitting on the opposite of the building caught her eye. He was in the front row, and he had a very deadly aura about him that she could feel from here. His eyes studied the boxers like a farmer studies an animal before he buys it. What really stuck her was the fact that he too was Asian. He was tall, and she could easily tell that he a muscular build even though he was wearing a red long-sleeved button-down shirt. He had long, flowing black hair that was tied into a pony tail, and he was wearing a black fedora with a red feather sticking out. His face looked as if it were chiseled out of the finest stone.

But what got her was the cross-shaped scar that covered his face. The horizontal scar went all the way across his face, from one cheek to the other. The vertical one went from the forehead to the chin. It looked as if it could have actually been done on purpose. As if he meant to scar his face with a cross. But it was this defining trait that allowed Yumi, as well as everyone else in the arena, to know who this man was. He was a prominent Japanese man who went by the name of Shinichi Hideyoshi. But everyone knew him as the Angelic Dragon.

He got the name in part because of the cross on his face, and the fact that his entire body except for his hands and face were covered in tattooed dragons that were each a different color. But the name fit in another way. His moves were ever so graceful and poised, like an angel. But as a skilled martial artists in several different styles, it was said that he had the fierce nature and tenacity of a dragon.

Shinichi was well known in Japan as a martial arts celebrity. He was at one time the personal body guard to the Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a prominent businessman who probably had even more influence than the man he was protecting. But he was known internationally as well. He had dealings with several government agencies, such as Interpol, CIA, and MI6. But that was in his youth, when he was at the apex of his strength. Now in his forties, he had started an organization that dealt with bounty hunting and bodyguard work.

As for the people of France, he was known as the man who had taken down the most notorious and largest crime syndicate that plagued the French streets. This was the man who had not only obliterated it, but he even managed to stop the couple that many thought would one day take over the syndicate. This was the man that was credited with arresting Wolfgang and Charlotte Stern.

Now Yumi didn't know about his role in the arrest of Ulrich's parents. She was just a one-year old in Japan at the time. But anyone who grew up in Japan knew him. And anyone who was interested in the crime of France during that knew him as well.

Yumi didn't think any of her classmates knew him. At least they didn't seem like they did. No one really paid him any attention except for the adults in the room who kept glancing at him. Yumi tapped her father on this arm. "Dad. Is that man who I think he is?"

Takeo looked where she pointed and grinned. "Oh, he came after all! I didn't think he'd be here until next week! Why yes, Yumi. That is the one and only Hideyoshi-san!"

"What's he doing here?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"I have some business with him. I wanted to discuss a pressing matter with him. But that's all I can say about it." Yumi and her mom shrugged. They figured it had something to do with his job.

The boxing matches eventually were under way. Yumi and her family cheered for Hiroki. He did poorly in his first round. But after a pep talk from his hero, Ulrich, he was zipping around the ring. His opponent could barely keep his eyes on him. Hiroki delivered some rather impressive quick jabs, and somehow he managed to knock him in the third round. When the middle school matches were finally over, the high school matches started right away.

When Ulrich's turn came up, Yumi focused all her efforts on watching him. She wanted to see what was so great about Ulrich's fighting. The bell rang and the match was underway. Ulrich's opponent threw a flurry of punches but Ulrich dodged everyone single one of them. Ulrich then threw a punch of his that found its way to the gut. He then delivered a devastating uppercut. His opponent would've fallen if it was for him grabbing onto the ropes. When he approached Ulrich again he threw another punch, but Ulrich countered with a sharp hook. Ulrich found his opening and threw a flurry of punches his own self. There wasn't even a count out. He was instantly declared knocked out, and Ulrich won.

What Yumi could tell from that match was one thing that she found to be very peculiar. Ulrich may have boxed just now. But she could sense a sort of martial artist's aura coming off of him. The way he dodged and moved was very much like one. But what was even more peculiar was the fact that he seemed to have floated across the ring. It was very graceful—almost elegant. But when he unloaded his arsenal of punches, Yumi couldn't help but think of a dragon chomping down its prey. This unnerved Yumi. Aelita was right. There was more to Ulrich than what those rumors led on. This boy knew martial arts, and he knew well. He knew was naturally as he knew walking and breathing. It was like looking at another Angelic Dragon.

44444444

"'Ey! Ulrich! Congratulations! You were good! Your pops would be pleased." Uncle Roger said as he putted his arm around his nephews shoulders.

"Thanks, Unc."

"Ulrich." A voice called. "That was very good. Your movements were very fluid. You are still training." The sharp, deep voice said. It's owner was sharper in every way as well.

"Shin!" Roger said. "What you doin' here?" Ulrich's uncle said as he gave the tall Asian man a hug.

"I heard that Ulrich was boxing. I thought that may have gotten bored of martial arts. Besides, I am his godfather." Shinichi answered.

Ulrich smiled at his godfather, and gave him a hug. "I didn't know you was here. If I did I probably would've karate chopped the guy in honor." Shinichi laughed.

"Well your fighting has definitely improved. I can tell from your boxing alone. Maybe you could work for me one day."

"What? So I can put some kid's parents in jail and be his godfather too?" All three of the men laughed.

"Something like that. But your father would be proud if he could see you know. I trust school is going well." Ulrich nodded. "It'll be Christmas before you know it. You excited to see your parents?"

"Of course! I'm countin' down the days. Well I was actually doin' that for Christmas vacation, but you gotta be efficient, right?"

"That's true. I'll be in town for a while, actually. I have business to attend here. I would love to have you two for dinner at my hotel while I am still here."

"And who are we to turn down a free meal?" Roger said.

"I never said it was free." Shinichi said coldly. This brought about a silence of Ulrich and his uncle. "Psych! I am only joking! I'm the rich guy around here. I'd be a cheapskate if I didn't spoil my godson every now and then." They all laughed some more. "Well I must be going. I am meeting a potential client here. Odd place to meet someone for bodybuard work, nee?"

Shinichi then made his way over to Ishiyamas. "Takeo-san! Konbanwa!"

"Konbanwa, Hideyoshi-san."

"Is this your beautiful family?"

"Yes, it is. You've met my wife, Akiko, before." Akiko bowed as did Shinichi.

"And this is Yumi, and this is my son, Hiroki."

"You mean, the champ. Your son has great potential in boxing." Shinichi then turned to Hiroki. "Congratulations on your win."

"A-arigato!" Hiroki practically yelled as he bowed to him. "I-I saw you talking to my friend. Ulrich! The brunette in the last fight."

"Ah yes. He is very good. As you know, I am always looking for future bodyguards and bounty hunters. He has great skill. But I am busy, and I have a meeting to go to. Can please talk about the matter you wanted to discuss, Takeo-san?"

"Yes." Takeo and Shinichi then went off to the side.

"So do you think you can do it?" Takeo finally asked.

"It's not like it's been done before. But it's better if the person knows that they're being watched. Hiring bodyguards that are not to be seen even by the person they are to protect is not all that safe. It could even make the person feel paranoid because someone is following them."

"Yes, but I'm worried about my kids. Hiroki has to deal with bullies—bigger kids than this boxing will allow him to handle. And they both have to walk to school in a very rough part of the neighborhood. And of course there's that other thing."

"Don't worry. That happened in Japan. You are safe here, and I sure whoever sent that threatening letter to you won't find you." Takeo grew pale. Shinichi frowned. "Don't tell me." Takeo gave him a letter.

Shinichi's frown grew into a grimace. "This is most troubling. You have to tell your family immediately. I cannot give you adequate help unless you do so."

"But we've just settled in. This is the last thing they need to worry about. And Akiko will want to move again!"

"Takeo. This is out of your control. You have to tell them for their own safety. Anywhere than your home is considered dangerous territory. They need to know."

"But what about my kids? They'll surely target them! I can't let this maniac get away with this! He's almost sent me to my grave once before! My kids will be next! I need your help!"

"I will get them a bodyguard. It's just that . . . the idea of sending adults to watch over them is too conspicuous."

"But that'll make that maniac stay away."

"No. It'll make him more cautious. And more importantly, they'll be less likely to make a mistake. We need them to make a mistake. We need to get you undercover bodyguards. That way, they won't be so cautious. We need to catch whoever is trying to hurt you and your family."

"But if how will we do that?"

"Let me worry about that. They can be guests at your house. Of course they'll be a bit more cautious because of this, but not as cautious if it's easily recognizable bodyguards. I will speak with you on this matter tomorrow. Hopefully I will have come up with something by then.

"Thank you, Yoshi-chan." Takeo said. Shinichi smiled.

"You haven't called me that in a long time. Since we were kids. Remember that? You were the straight-A student, and I was in the Yakuza."

"Yes, a lot has definitely changed since then."

"Yes, but I'm still having to save your butt once again. And that actually gives me an idea. I'll have to go now. Ja ne." And with that, they went their separate ways.

That's it! I'm done. And it only took me like three hours! My eyes hurt. I hoped you like it. In the next chapter, Ulrich and Yumi finally talk to each other! But that's the least important happening. An exciting chapter awaits!

Chapter 5: It all Comes Together


	5. It All Comes Together

Hi! I've been thinking about this story constantly because we're at one of the parts that I really like—the part where Ulrich and Yumi finally talk . . . to each other that is. I find it funny that several people have been asking, "When will they meet?" Normally it's, "When will they be together?" I guess you'll be asking that now, huh? I won't let you wait for that moment any longer.

So here it is! Chapter 5: It All Comes Together

It was the part of the day that Yumi always loathed. Health Class. And with it being Monday, she only hated it more. Of course, that was because it meant she had five straight days to deal with mindless, annoying flirting. Plus, on Mondays, Rust always sat next to her. Something about, "needing something to look forward to on Mondays." Why couldn't she have that?! That wasn't fair at all!

She simply stared at her notebook, trying her hardest to somehow delay Rust's flirting. She could hear him plop down in the seat. And then she saw two boots being propped up on the desk. Since when was he not fat enough to do that? She was wondering when the poor chair would break from such weight. After all, Rust was a giant.

But this was not the smell of Rust. Rust smelled like his name— with a bit of tobacco and alcohol thrown in. But this smell was the smell of car oil and a bit of sweat. This intrigued Yumi because—and she didn't really like to admit it even to herself—she knew this smell as well. It was Ulrich's smell. She turned to her right to see said boy sitting there, making himself comfortable. He had a nonchalant look on his face, but it seemed in his eyes like he was planning something

Since when was he in her health class? But then she thought how she could be so oblivious. Was she that involved with her own troubles in this class that she didn't realize that Ulrich, Theo, and Odd were in this class and normally goofed off in the back? She must've been because when she turned around, she saw the other two. They seemed to have stressful looks on their faces, and they kept glancing at her and Ulrich. What was going on?

She then turned around when she heard Ulrich clear his throat. He sat up straight and gave her a friendly smile. "Uh, excuse me, but I was just wonderin' if it'll be alright if I sat here." He mumbled. Yumi nodded. "Good, good. I figured it would be alright. You got a different guy sittin' here every day."

"Well except on Mondays. You know Rust sits there. Remember what happened to the last guy who sat there on Monday?"

Ulrich chuckled. "Yeah. Guess that's my prob, huh? But if you want Rust to sit here—,"

"Heck no. You sit there. I don't want to deal with him at all."

"Okay then. I just thought that seein' as all da other guys have sat here, it was my turn. Wanted to see what was so great about ya. If ya want, I can even flirt with ya so it'll be just another Monday." Ulrich teased.

Yumi smirked. "If that's the case then you can just go and sit with your friends." Ulrich laughed which drew looks from their classmates.

"'S a good thing that wasn't why I wanted to sit next to ya. I got reasons for it ya know."

"You mind if I ask what they are?"

"Three reasons." Ulrich said as he held up three fingers. "And here's reason numbah one." At that moment, William walked in the room and gave Ulrich a disgusting look when he saw him sitting next to Yumi.

"Wow, Yumi. You've got the attention of all the guys. Even this poor excuse for one."

"Well that's because I'm a man. But what are you? I mean you got the vanity of a Barbie, boy."

"But really, I didn't know you liked Yumi."

"What's not to like? She's a cute girl." Ulrich shrugged. Yumi was slightly amused. "But that's all I can really say. I don't got her permission to flirt with her, so I'm gonna be a gentleman—which is another thing you're not—and comply with her wishes."

"Like you know anything about being a gentleman, you bafoon."

"'S true to a certain degree. Fact is, I ain't scared to sit in this seat though. Which is the least I can say for you. The day Rust made it clear that no one could sit here on this special day, you all ran with your tails tucked between your legs. And you were so scared; you don't bother sit here Tuesday through Friday."

"That's the only good thing Rust did do." Yumi added. William frowned and Ulrich laughed.

"Wow! Now that stings!" Ulrich exclaimed. "She definitely ain't into you, bro. But look on the bright side, Pretty Boy, with me sittin' in this seat, you can be sure Rust won't mess with you."

"And why's that." William said through gritted teeth.

"Because I'm offerin' you protection. Rust may believe you're his numbah one competition with Miss Ishiyama, but with me sittin' here, he's gonna want me outta the picture before he even thinks about you. And by the time that happens, he'll have graduated. And we all know that's something that ain't gonna happen." William seemed intrigued by this thought.

"You do have a point. But I know your kind. What do you want?"

"Get me the assigned parkin' spots of all the designated student drivas."

"What do you need with that?"

"I gotta check sumthin' that's all. Now mind your business, and do it."

"How could I?"

"Oh come on Pretty Boy. Prince Willie, I know you're good friends with Sissi. She'll do you this favor if ya say please. Now be the good, pretty boy that you are, and sit down where I normally sit. Odd and Theo will keep you company." William glared at the two boys. "They won't bite. Unless you give them a reason to." William scowled. And then he winked at Yumi who returned his wink with a scowl of her own.

Yumi was wondering why Ulrich would need to know where the students were assigned to park their cars. Was he trying to keep tabs on someone? Ulrich turned to her, "And now here's reason numba two." He whispered as Rust entered the room. Rust seemed very happy until he saw Ulrich sitting in "his" seat. He was ticked off. He glared at Ulrich as he towered over the boy.

Ulrich looked at him and smirked. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, get outta my seat."

"This ain't your seat."

"Everyone knows I sit here on Mondays."

"So. It ain't like we got assigned seats in here. See this isn't the parking lot where we're supposed to park in whateva parking spot the school gives us," Rust glared at Ulrich. "Or am I wrong, Rust? Can we park anywhere we wanna?"

Yumi could see Rust's jaw muscles clenching. His fist seemed to be clenching right along with them. "This. Ain't. Ova. Stern." Rust hissed.

"That's because it hasn't even gotten started yet. And if you know what's good for ya, it won't." Ulrich said. Rust glanced at Yumi, and out of the corner of her eye, Yumi could see—no she could feel Ulrich tense up and glare daggers at Rust. Rust then eyed Ulrich, as if he was sizing him up. Rust smirked and walked off."

"Um, what was that about?" Yumi finally asked.

"It's about reason numbah three actually."

"And what's that?"

Ulrich smirked. The bell rang signaling the start of class. Before the teacher could utter a word, Ulrich spoke up. "Sorry, teach, but I was just hopin' if I could make a suggestion. I think it would be great for all of us if we worked on today's assignment with a partner instead of goin' over it with the whole class."

Mr. Smick stared blankly at Ulrich. "Whatever. I don't really care either way. Alright, split up into pairs."

"And now that's done. I wanna talk with you." Ulrich said as he turned to face Yumi.

"About what?"

"About you."

Yumi could feel a slight blush on her cheeks. She knew he wasn't flirting, but it sounded so forward, she couldn't help it. "Wh-what about me?"

"'S about you, Emily, and your brother."

"And why such a strange combo?"

"Well ya see, Yumi, Rust has been taking a special interest in Emily."

"Yeah, I know. They used to go out at one time."

"Exactly. Ya see, eva since Emily's gone down in the social ladder, Rust feels like he's the got the stones ta talk her up."

"Okay. What does that have to do with me?"

"Rust is very insecure. No one really knows that. He beats on people to make himself feel good about himself. The only reason he's flirtin' wit her is just to make her feel like he's the best she can do. Like she's privileged to be wit him. Now before I answer your question, I gotta ask ya sumthin'."

"What?" Yumi said. She was getting impatient.

"Do you know that Rust has been bullyin' Hiroki?"

"Yeah, he's mentioned you coming to the rescue." Yumi joked. Ulrich laughed out loud again, once again drawing looks towards them. Ulrich then moved closer to her. People started whispering, and Yumi was rather annoyed.

"Um, what are you doing?"

Ulrich leaned away from her. "Nothin'." He smirked. "Now as I was sayin,' the reason he's gone outta his way to ruin Hiroki's life is because of you."

"Now what's that got to do with me?"

"You keep turnin' him down."

"Yeah, but isn't he really after Emily? I mean I'm just some girl he likes to look at on Mondays. That's what he tells the idiots that listen to him anyways."

"Like I said. He's just tryin' to make her feel bad. He'd rather be wit you. Because you're a rich girl. And you actually turned down a chance ta be wit the Prisses. He thinks he's got a chance wit you because you hang wit people like Sam and Aelita. People who are poor."

"But why would he beat up on my little brother? That's stupid."

"Because he'd neva wanna hurt his delicate flower." Ulrich said grimly. Yumi felt a chill go down her spine.

"You eva see Emily when she's around the punk?"

"I haven't actually." Yumi answered.

"Theo has. Your other two friends have too. She looks completely terrified."

"So instead of hitting me," Yumi started.

"He's hitting someone who looks like you. Well someone whose got the family resemblance anyways."

"But did he ever do anything to Emily?"

"Well that's sumthin' you gotta ask her. I don't got all the answers. This is just sumthin' that Aelita told me. She wanted me or Theo to keep a look out for her and everything. Sweet kid, Aelita is." Ulrich smirked. "But anyways, Theo's been glad to walk her to classes 'n' stuff, and I've been keepin' a close eye on Rust. And things just started clickin'. Rust got other reasons to do the things he does. You know he likes to hang around the girl's locker room, right?"

"Yeah, Emily says he does when we're in gym class. That's the only time he does."

"Right, when you're in gym."

"With Emily." Yumi added.

"But you're there too." Yumi paused and then nodded.

"Now think carefully. You know that the boxing arena is actually next door to where you practice gymnastics, right?"

"Uh huh."

"Now wit the stories of my heroics, when and where do they normally take place when Hiroki tells you about them."

"On the way to boxing practice, when he's right in front of the building." Yumi answered bluntly. "You pass the gymnastics area before you get to the boxing arena too."

"Exactly."

"And now here's the last bit o' proof. Do you know where he parks his car?"

"No."

"Well he parks right next to Emily's car. Supposedly to flirt and stuff. But if William can get me the assigned parking locations, I'm pretty sure we'll find out he ain't supposed to be parkin' there at all."

"Okay, but how does that relate to me?"

"Well the parkin' designations are written out on a map of the parkin' lot."

"Emily parks where the forest just starts out. That's also where I wait for her and the others." Yumi quickly said.

"And you normally get there before they do. You wanna know when Rust gets to school?"

"When?"

"He gets there bright and early. He's there at least five minutes before you're destined to show up."

Yumi swallowed. "Are you trying to say that he's . . ."

"I ain't tryin', I am. He's stalkin' you big time in his own twisted and sly way. And I just wanted to let you know that you're what he's really lookin' at. He wants you bad. And if this keeps up, Hiroki won't be enough to quench his anger. And Emily won't cut it in his flirtatious harassments."

"But he wouldn't do anything that bad? Would he?"

"Rust is comin' after you hard. That's all I know. And I don't like it. I just figured it out, and I wanted you know. You need to be on your guard. Now I'm willin' ta do the same thing for you that Theo does for Emily, but that's up to you."

"I can take care of myself." Yumi said defiantly.

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "You can? I'm bein' serious here."

"I've been taking martial arts since I was three, thank you."

"Good! I'm sure you can handle that big lug then."

"I know I can. But I must say, that's pretty impressive." Yumi said with a teasing smile on her face.

"What is?" Ulrich asked, confused.

"How did you know that I take gym with Emily? Or that I wait for my friends outside, near the forest, and that I'm usually the first one there?"

Ulrich smirked. "Well maybe I'm stalkin' you too." He then laughed out loud again, drawing in more looks. "Seriously, though. I've heard enough about you from Sam, and Aelita, and your little bro to be intrigued by you. Guess I was just tryin' ta see for myself what a great person you're s'posed ta be. I just so happened to recognize these little things because of it. If anything, you should be thanking me."

Yumi laughed, and she too had their classmates looking at them. "You're right." Yumi then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek which took him aback. The onlookers gasped. "Thank you."

"Wh-what was that?" Ulrich asked, dumbfounded. The bell rang for dismissal.

"I appreciate you trying to watch out for me, and all that you've done. But I don't think Rust is going to believe for a second that you're really interested in me or vice versa if all you do is laugh out loud to get the attention of a few nosy students. But maybe that kiss will make him back off."

Ulrich smirked. "Sorry. I just thought that if I could get him to really believe that I liked you that he might just stop. But I didn't wanna impose on you. I thought that you'd probably think I was tryin' ta play ya so I could get some action or sumthin'."

"I'm sure you knew that wasn't going to work though. That's wishful thinking."

"Yeah, well. Laughin' and close proximity was the only thing I could think of. I ain't no genius in what a man does with a woman he loves."

"Yes, but you did prove something." Yumi said smirking at him.

"What?"

"You are a gentleman, Stern. And you're nothing but a stone-faced slugger with a big heart."

"Don't go wreckin' my image, girl." Ulrich joked.

"Well don't pretend to flirt with me."

"Okay then. I'll mean it for real next time." Ulrich said as he winked at her and walked off. Yumi just shook her head as she exited the room as well.

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With health class finished, it was lunchtime now, and Yumi was brimming with news and questions of what just happened. She didn't even wait to sit down. Once she was in earshot, "Guys, I've got loads to talk about, and I need you all to shut up and hear me."

"What is it, Yumi?" Aelita asked.

"Ulrich talked to me!" Yumi exclaimed.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were in love with him." Emily commented.

"Well that's what he wanted everyone in class to think."

Jeremie spit out his milk. That seemed to be a new hobby of his. That or spitting out milk was just an instant reaction that the nerd had whenever Ulrich was mentioned. "What? Yumi you can't fall in love with him. He'll murder you in your sleep!"

"Make up your mind, Jer, is he a cult leader or a murderer?" Aelita snapped.

"He's both! He's just evil! You have to stay away from him!"

"He's actually kinda nice," Yumi replied.

"He is?" Emily asked. Aelita beamed.

"Thank you! Someone finally sees Ulrich for what he really is: a kind, gentle-hearted soul."

"He's a calculating, violent anti-hero," Yumi responded. Emily laughed at Aelita who took a page out of her boyfriend's notebook and she too spit out her milk.

"What is the milk sour or something? Stop doing that!" Yumi snapped at the couple.

"Sorry, Aelita but I think Yumi's description is more believable," Emily stated. Aelita shrugged. Once everyone had settled down, Yumi told them everything that happened during health class.

"Wow, he's smarter than he looks," Emily said.

"See! He cares about people! He cares about you!" Aelita said.

"It's a trick," Jeremie concluded.

"How so?" Yumi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's just trying to distract you with Rust. And when you have your guard down around him, he'll take you."

"So now he's a kidnapper?"

"He's just bad! But a more important question should be asked. Why did you kiss him?!"

"So Rust would think there's something between us. It'll get him off of my back," Yumi explained.

"Did you think about the fact that everyone in class (and eventually the entire school) is gonna think there's something between you two?"

Yumi stared at the girl. "Well I didn't really think that far ahead."

"It's only the logical step, Yumi. When you kiss a guy—even on the cheek—people will talk . . . A LOT."

"But think about it," Aelita began, "It was either kiss Ulrich or have Rust potentially molest her." She then put her hand on Yumi's shoulder. "Don't worry. You made the right decision."

"Yeah, well I didn't know Rust had it in him to actually use me just to get you. He's got some brains after all. Of course it's not a lot, but whatever."

"Yumi, take Rust out, and leave Ulrich alone," Jeremie stated.

"Isn't that evil, Jer?" Yumi asked.

"You're destroying evil! Who cares?!"

"You're all missing the point," Aelita stated. "Ulrich's obviously been keeping a close eye on you."

"Stalker," Jeremie chirped.

Aelita glared at him. "He's not a stalker, but he's obviously paying you a lot of attention. And then think about the fact that he got so tense and angry when Rust _looked _you. He didn't even do anything to you, and Ulrich got that angry."

"I picked up on that."

"Well did you pick up on the fact that he might like you?"

A very misty silence hung around the table. It was then broken with Emily's giggling. Then Jeremie started saying something about Yumi being the victim of two rapists; Aelita started gushing over how cute Yumi and Ulrich would be if they went out; Yumi moaned and banged her head on the table.

"Okay, shut up!" Yumi finally yelled. "Let's not think about what Aelita said at all, and let's think on this. Emily, what _did _happen between you and Rust? If you don't mind my asking, I would like to know."

Emily sighed. "We only went out for like two weeks. But in those two weeks he tried to push himself on me. When I dumped him, he yelled at me and then he punched a hole in the wall that I happened to be standing in front of. He raised his fist again, and I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought the lug was gonna end me right then and there, but a teacher started yelling at him for "damaging school property." The idiot teacher didn't even pay any attention to the fact that he almost destroyed me!"

"So that's why you're terrified?"

"Yeah, well, the next day, he caught me alone, and said that one day he'd make me regret dumping me. It chilled me to the bone. And everyone's heard stories of what he's done to past girlfriends."

"What's that?"

"Well let's just say one girl ended up in the hospital due to a "sports accident." And one girl was so scared, she ended up moving out of the city."

"I don't wanna leave this place. I like it here!"

"Isn't Theo like your bodyguard?" Aelita asked.

"Theo can't be trusted. He's friends with Ulrich." Jeremie stated.

"My cousin's friends with Ulrich!" Aelita snapped.

"Sam's friends with him too." Yumi added. "Heck, my brother idolizes him."

"Okay! Fine! But what are you going to do, Yumi? You can't just wait around for Rust to pounce on you!"

"You're right. I'd rather just end this now, but I really don't know what to do in this type of situation. I've never had a violent stalker before. I guess the only thing I can do is just sit tight and see what happens." Yumi said with a lot of confidence. But she had a dark feeling creeping inside her stomach. It was as if something was off about this whole thing. But she couldn't really say for sure just what that was.

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After stopping by at his locker, Ulrich made his way to the cafeteria. On his way, he was stopped by the Prisses. "Okay, what is this about?" Ulrich found this amusing. They normally ignored him.

"Well we hear that you might have a thing for Yumi," Sissi answered. Ulrich laughed.

"You mean that word's spread that fast? Wow! Gossip is worse than cancer! But I'm wonderin.' What does that got ta do wit' the likes of you girls?"

"Well we just think that it'd be in your best interest to stay away from her. She's just scum."

"She ain't scum. She's a down ta earth kinda girl. And jus' so you know, it ain't like that anyways."

Sissi smirked. "Well if that's the case, maybe you'd rather spend your time with a real lady?" She slinked over, placing her hand on his chest. She gave him a flirtatious smile.

Ulrich snorted. Then he burst out into laughter. "You gotta be kiddin' me! You comin' on ta me? This is too rich! Guess it makes sense wit' you spoilt prisses here. Lemme guess. It's time for the Devilish Dating Dare, and I'm the unlucky boy."

Sissi chuckled. "It's something like that. But you see, I think you're quite the catch. I mean, you're always protecting people; you're so strong; and you're no pushover. That's pretty attractive."

Ulrich smirked. "Yeah, well. That's all true. But I ain't interested."

"Fine. Your loss." Sissi said as she stepped away from Ulrich. She then walked past him, stopped and turned around. "When you're ready for a real lady, give me a call," she said winking. Madison laughed and followed Sissi. Amelia was in tow, but Ulrich caught her by the arm.

"Really, Aimes?" Ulrich asked.

Amelia stared at him. "It's not a dare. She's serious. At least that's what she says."

"And you really believe that?"

"What's it got to do with me? If you want to date her, then go ahead." Amelia snapped as she wrenched her arm out of Ulrich's grasp.

"Why you hangin' out wit' her anways?"

"Like you care." Amelia scoffed as she walked away quickly, trying to catch up with the other two. Ulrich clenched his fists in silent anger. He couldn't help thinking that maybe she was just a lost cause.

555555555

Ulrich made his way to lunch with the gang already seated and eating. "Hey! There's our lover boy!" Odd teased. Theo started making kissing faces.

"So she really kissed you?" Sam asked, amused.

"Yeah, on the cheek," Ulrich answered.

"She must really dig you, Ulrich. Was she so glad that you were coming to her rescue?" Theo cooed.

"Yeah, you her knight shinin' armor, or sumthin'?" Odd added.

Ulrich smirked. "Nah, she was just makin' Rust think we got sumthin' togetha."

"She catches on fast. I told you she'd know you were trying to fake flirting with her in front of everyone," Sam said matter of factly.

"So you think it worked?" Odd asked.

"I dunno. Rust smiled when I hinted at his parkin'. It irks me."

"Irks! There's a word we don't here too often. She taught you some vocab while you were talkin' wit her?" Theo teased.

"Shut up. I don't think I'm gonna be happy until Rust is outta here."

"But I don't get it," Odd stated. "Why do you need the parkin' assignments? I mean, whether or not he's supposed to be parked there shouldn't matta. He's still watching her."

"Because, I gotta make sure of sumthin'."

"What's that?"

"The car Rust hangs out ain't the car he had last year. He ain't got the money to switch rides like that."

"So what, you think he's hangin' around someone else's car? What does it matta?" Theo replied.

"Cause even though he's hangin around a car that ain't his, he's still comin' ta school in his car. But I've checked several times. His car ain't nowhere near the parkin' lot."

"He was sittin' in that other car though." Sam said.

"He was. And that means someone's lettin' him hang there. They gotta know he's up ta sumthin'. And we find out who that car really belongs to, we'll find out why Rust is so concerned about not havin' his car at school. Cause I bet you my bike, he's got sumthin' in there he ain't supposed ta have."

"Hope you're right. I wanna end this soon. This is too much thinkin'." Odd complained.

"Ain't our fault your brain is too slow ta keep up." Sam said.

"Ah, Sam you so rough wit me."

"You know you like it."

"Okay that's enough. I don't like this mushy stuff." Theo complained.

"That's because you ain't getting' nowhere wit Emily," Ulrich joked.

"Yeah, you're getting' somewhere wit Yumi." Theo retorted. "Tell us the truth. You got a thing for her? I ain't eva seen you so worked up about a girl before. Not since Amelia that is." Ulrich's smile faltered.

"Well she's just an innocent girl. And I just love ruinin' Rust's life."

"Yeah well, let's hope we can nab wit this. We do that, and we won't eva have ta worry about anybody messin' wit us in this dump," Theo stated. The others agreed.

Ulrich didn't tell them, but he felt very excited. He was brimming with anticipation. After all, these kind of suspenseful moments were what he lived for. That's why he liked being the hero. But even he had to admit that it was different this time. All the other times he'd go up against a gang or a bully, it was for fun and because it was the right thing to do. But with Yumi, for some reason that he just couldn't wrap his head around, he felt like he needed to help her. It was almost as if it were some intrinsic need to look after her. Ulrich did his best to shrug off that feeling. He just assumed that he was intrigued by her, and he just didn't want his amusement to end.

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It was now time for Study Hall for Yumi and Sam. And like the good students they were, they weren't quietly talking while pretending to study. Who really does study during study hall anyways?

"So I'm guessing you already know what's going on, huh?" Yumi finally asked her.

"You mean about your stalker? Yeah, I know."

"I would've never thought that I'd get a stalker within two months of going here. I thought maybe towards the end of the school year, but not this soon."

Sam laughed. "Guess you're underestimatin' your looks. Every guy likes ya."

"It's actually annoying. I kinda wanted to escape this. That was the whole reason of coming here."

"So rich girl thought that coming to a school where over half the kids are in poverty was a good idea. You sure you don't buy your A's?"

"I know. But I just wanted to be normal."

"Well you ain't. And no matter where ya go, you won't be."

"Guess there's nothing to do about it now."

"Nope nothin' at all. Now here's somethin' I didn't see comin'." Sam started. "You kissin' Ulrich."

"It was on the cheek, and,"

"Yeah, I know. You did it ta scare Rust off. But did you think about how everyone else was gonna react?"

"I didn't. I've already been chewed out about that enough, so please don't get on me about it."

"I won't."

"Now what I want to know is if Ulrich likes me. I don't think he does. But my friend, Aelita brought it up, and it's been bugging me ever since."

Sam pondered on this question. She was choosing her words wisely. "Ulrich's never really been interested in a girl before. So I couldn't say for sure. He does seem to care about you. But that may only be because we're friends and you're friends with the pink chick. And of course you're Hiroki's sister. But I will tell ya this. And I honestly don't think I should, but I jus' feel it could shed some light on what's goin' on. The only other girl he ever seemed ta care about was Amelia."

"One of the Prisses?" Yumi raised an eyebrow. Ulrich had a very strange taste in girls. What was the connection between her and Amelia?

"Yeah. I won't say he had a crush on her or anything, but he really went out of his way for her when she started comin' here. They hung out all the time two years ago when they were both freshmen. You couldn't separate 'em! But then, Sissi came in and the Prisses was here ta stay. The thing is, besides Ulrich, or rather because of his rep, she didn't have any other friends. So when Sissi offered her friendship, she took it. But you know Sissi, she doesn't care for the poor. So she told Amelia that Ulrich had ta go. And if she didn't, she'd make sure Amelia would never have any friends but him. Long story short: Amelia ditched Ulrich for the Prisses, and Ulrich's never gotten over it."

"I didn't know he had history with them before."

"Yeah, well there's more to it. I know why Sissi did what she did. She don't got a thing against Ulrich. She like 'im. Any girl that gets too close, she feels like she's gotta take her out. She used to come after me hard. But when I started datin' Odd she completely forgot I existed! I knew then, she wanted Ulrich. She just never admitted to herself. Or maybe she was just ashamed of the idea. I dunno."

"So Sissi likes Ulrich. And Rust is obsessed with me. Looks like we both have stalkers."

"You got that right. Honestly, Ulrich's a mystery to me. He's never straight with me or the guys."

"Aelita told me he's insecure." Yumi stated.

"He is. And that's why it's so hard to read him sometimes, and so easy at other times. He's an enigma."

Yumi chuckled. "I've never heard anyone describe him that way."

"Yeah, I guess not. I've known him the longest. Since elementary school actually. We was readin' buddies. Someone from one grade reads with a kid from another grade. We were paired and we just became friends. He's like my brother. He told me I was olda sista one time. He said he'd protect me, and I'd keep him on the right track. And I know he ain't got feelin's for me. But that why I think he doesn't have feelin's for Amelia. He looks at her in the same way he looks at me. But it makes ya wonder what's between them."

"So you can't say for sure if they ever did like each other."

"That's the thing! He never made it obvious! But I'm sure he'd at least look at her differently!"

"Does he look at me the same way?"

"I can't say. He never really looks at you. At least, not when I'm around. It's like you're just there when you're around. And whenever the guys asked about you, Ulrich never spoke a word. He just sat there. And then all of a sudden, he starts talkin' about how Rust is stalkin' you."

This intrigued Yumi. How was it that she had spent so much time watching him, it didn't seem like he was doing the same, and yet he knew so much more about her than she knew about him? Was he a detective? A stalker? Both? She was frustrated actually. She didn't like that she didn't know that much about him, and yet he knew so much about her that he knew what was going on around her when she didn't! She was determined to even things up. She'd find out about Ulrich and what made him tick.

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With no practice for either Yumi or Hiroki, they both started their walk home. It felt very uneventful as any other day, but Yumi couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia that now surrounded her. The talk with Ulrich had definitely perturbed her, but she was nonetheless thankful for it because it meant that she was on her guard now. But her rather violent gait was making her younger brother feel quite worried.

"Uh, sis, is something wrong?" Hiroki asked.

"What? Nah, nothing's wrong." Yumi answered with a smug look on her face. She was daring Rust to try something. She would be ready for him. Maybe she could prove to her parents once and for all that she could take care of herself.

"Then why do you look like you're looking for a fight?"

"I'm just on my guard. You never know when some idiot tries to attack you."

"But you've never been on your guard before? Did something happen?"

"If you must know, some punk's been following me around. I'm going to make sure that he doesn't ambush me."

"Who is it?"

"You know Rust. The guy who bullies you."

"I wouldn't say he bullies me. He _tries _to bully me, but I either evade him or Ulrich intervenes." Hiroki corrected. It didn't save him a lot of pride, but it was better than none.

"Well I'm going to beat his sorry butt the second he tries something."

"I didn't even realize he was stalking you."

"Actually, Ulrich told me."

"He did? He never said anything to me. I wonder when he noticed."

"He's just been observing me. As weird as that sounds, it was only because he was trying to see if the things you and some others had said about me were true."

"Do you like him?" Hiroki chirped.

"Huh?"

"Do you like Ulrich? Do you think he's cool?"

"He's an okay guy."

"Would you date him?" Hiroki was practically beaming.

"I barely know him. Of course not." Hiroki frowned.

"I think you should." He mumbled.

"Whatever." At that second the sound of scuffiling feet grew louder in volume. The two siblings turned around and saw Rust running towards them at full speed. Yumi stepped forward, grabbed his outstretched arm and flipped him on the ground. But before she could triumph over her victory, several other guys came out of the woodworks and surround the two. This was not what Yumi had in mind. One guy was one thing. An entire gang was a completely different thing.

555555

Ulrich was at tutoring with Aelita. But instead of talking about math, the two were talking about the current events at Kadic High.

"So Yumi told me that you warned her about Rust." Aelita started. "So I was wondering. Do you like Yumi?"

"Well that's straight to the point." Ulrich chuckled. "I'm not into her. I jus' . . . care about her. It's weird, ya know. I jus' feel like I gotta keep an eye out for her."

"Maybe you do like her!" Aelita squealed.

"You'd love that. Wouldn't ya?"

"Yes! So tell me! Do you like her or not?"

"It's too soon ta say. I ain't neva liked a girl before. And I honestly don't see me wit anyone. I always thought I'd be alone so I neva gave it any thought."

Before Aelita could go into rambling about Ulrich and his feelings, they were both interrupted by William.

"Hey. I got the parking designations." William said as he handed Ulrich a map of the school that had the parking lot names scribbled on each parking spot. "If you're trying to steal from someone, I don't think that's going to help you."

"Well you let me worry about that." Ulrich eyed the richly dressed boy. "Now scram, Pretty Boy." Wiliam scowled at him and walked off.

"So what's that for?" Aelita asked.

Ulrich spreaded the map out the table. "Look at this. You guys meet here. And the parking spot that Rust is always hangin' around is . . . this one." Ulrich stated as he pointed at the different locations. He then took his pencil and circled them.

"But that's not his parking space. According to this, that's Joe Sampson's parking spot." Aelita stated.

"Yeah . . . I don't like that." Ulrich said, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Joe is a tough guy. Why is he lettin' Rust hang around his car? That don't look right at all. It would make sense if it were some nerd. But Joe is not the kind of person ta mess with. And yet he's lettin' Rust push him around."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means Rust gots something that's scarin' Joe into doin' what he wants him ta do." Ulrich then circled another spot on the map. It was farther away from the parking a lot. In fact, it was near the edge of the school map. "This is where Rust parks his car."

"Yumi's house is in that direction. She told me where she lived, so I'd know."

"Do you know what's over there?"

"That's near some abandoned buildings. Before you get to the nicer part of town, you have to pass this one block that's pretty much empty."

"So no one really mingles around there. That's perfect if you got somethin' that you don't want others ta see. But it's even better if ya peoples ya want to meet up with."

"What are you saying?"

"Joe is the member of a gang. Not many people know that because it's a very . . . private gang. Joe ain't bein' scared into anything. He's lettin' Rust use his car in exchange for Rust letting his gang have his car."

"So when Rust parks there, the gangsters come and use it?"

"Yeah. But if that's the case. Then Rust ain't stalkin' Yumi—at least not to be wit her." Ulrich breathed in deeply. "This boy is doin' an initiation. He's tryin' ta prove his worth to a notorious gang. And I ain't talkin' about stealin' or breakin' into a buildin'. Rust wants to prove his worth to them by kidnappin'. And Yumi and Hiroki are the targets."

Aelita could feel an icy chill go up her spine. "Wh-what do you we do?"

Ulrich stood up and scribbled something on the map. "You call the police and tell them what's goin' on."

"Wait. You're not thinking of going there are you?"

Ulrich gave Aelita a small smile. "Well . . . I gotta." Ulrich took off, ignoring the librarian's shouts of dismay.

5555555

Mr. Ishiyama was finishing up his work for the day. He was an hour away from clocking off, and he was simply counting down the minutes. While going over a few files, he got a call. When he saw the ID, he immediately dropped what he was doing, and answered the phone.

"Shinichi-san! What is it? Did you find the person who's been threatening me and my family?"

"No. I just got a call. The person I hired to keep a lookout on your children said that they're running a bit late. I at first, I just thought that maybe they were just lingering with their friends, but not even a minute later, the police put out a report of a kidnapping in progress. The address just so happens to be along the route that your kids take."

"Are you saying that . . .," Mr. Ishiyama couldn't even bring himself to say the words. It was too horrible to think about. "Are you saying that they have my kids?!"

"It seems that way. I didn't think something like this would happen so soon. It's possible that it may not be the person who sent you that letter. You are rich. That's reason enough to come after you. I've already sent the bodyguard to go there and handle the situation. I sent another bodyguard to travel the route and see if they can spot your children. When I get word of what's going on, I'll call you."

"You're sending one bodyguard? You really think that's enough?! Send in the whole army! These are my children! I want more eyes out there searching!"

"Takeo, calm down. If I do that, we're making it obvious to whoever's watching you that you've got bodyguards."

"It's probably them making a move anyways! What does it matter?"

"Look if it makes you feel any better, I'll go there myself, and I'll have a team with me. Just don't do anything irrational. And you can't leave your office. In fact, don't move until I tell you to."

"You want me to stay here? I want to see my kids! I can't just sit here, knowing that my kids are probably being taken away from me."

"Calm down. If you leave, you'll only exacerbate the situation. We don't need them capturing you and your kids. I will make sure they're safe myself."

"You better, Shinichi. They are my life." Mr. Ishiyama emphasized.

"I know, Takeo. I'll bring them back. You have my word."

Mr. Ishiyama hung up the phone. He sighed. He knew this would happen. Why couldn't he keep his family out of danger?

555555555

Yumi and Hiroki were terrified. They were surrounded by a small gang of thugs who were all armed with various weapons. They didn't see any guns, but that didn't make them feel any better.

"Alright, you two. You come quietly, and we won't rough ya up too badly." A tall man with a tattoo of a bird on his face said. He seemed to be the leader of the gang.

"What do you want?" Yumi finally said.

"We just wanna know how it feels to live the good life." The man continued. "Ya see, we don't got a lot. Not like you two. And we just think it's time that someone gave us somethin'. Ya know, it's better to give than ta receive. And we jus' wanna know how it feels ta be on the receivin' end. And we want your parents to be on the givin' end."

"You're holding us for ransom?" Hiroki asked. He was trembling. There was no way a month's worth of boxing was going to get them out of this. And he didn't count on his sister taking down all of these guys without getting hurt.

"Yeah. I guess we are. But as long as your parents come through, we ain't got nothin' ta worry about."

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" Yumi snapped. Birdface eyed Yumi. He looked her up and down.

"Ya know, you got a sharp mouth there. You just might need ta be punished." Birdface touched Yumi's arm, and she jerked away.

"Hey, I'm just tryin' ta be nice." Birdface joked. "You like nice guys?" the other gangsters laughed. "I can be a bad boy if ya want me ta be one." Birdface then took out a knife and placed the blade on Yumi's cheek.

Yumi wasn't having that. She grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm, the man gave a yelp of pain, and the two gangsters closest to Yumi grabbed her and shoved onto the ground.

"Looks like she need's ta be punished, boss." A gangster suggested.

"You're right. I need ta tame this broad." Birdface said as he rubbed his aching wrist. I won't be too rough though. You get less money for damaged goods." He then grabbed Yumi's chin and pushed her up against the wall.

"You stay away from my sister!" Hiroki roared and charged towards Birdface, but one of the gangsters punched him in the stomach, and Hiroki stumbled to the ground.

"Shut up, kid. I won't hurt her. Well not that much." Birdface joked, making his fellow gangsters laugh. "Now I'll be nice if she decides ta kiss and make up. Come on, babe. How about a kiss?" Yumi turned her face away from the gangster's. She could smell the alcohol on him. It made her stomach churn. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her towards him. He kissed her on the cheek, and said, "Now that wasn't too bad, was it? How's about anotha one? I like your face. It's so warm. I bet your lips are just burnin,"

"STAY AWAY, YA JACKASS!" a voice roared. Everyone turned towards the shout and saw a lone biker racing towards them. A few of the gangsters tried to attacked the biker with their crowbars in hand, but the biker evaded their attacked managed to punch one in the gut. The biker brought the motorcycle to a screeching halt, and jumped off the bike. The gangsters moved in for the kill, but the biker, anticipating this, crouched low, and delivered a few blows from below, taking out several of the gangsters. One of the gangsters went for a stab with his knife, but ended up scratching the surface of the helmet. The biker then headbutted the gangster. The remaining gangsters stepped back. This biker knew what he was doing.

The biker took off his helmet and then turned towards Birdface, revealing himself to be Ulrich. "Yo! I said stay away, jackass!"

Birdface then pulled Yumi in front of him and held the knife at her throat. "You stay away, or I'll . . ." before he could finish his threat, Ulrich threw his helmet at the man with all of his might. Yumi elbowed the man in the gut and rolled out of the way. The helmet smashed into the man's face, sending him sprawled out onto the ground. The remaining gangsters finally rushed towards Ulrich, enraged at the defeat of their leader. Ulrich ran right towards them. Yumi and Hiroki thought that was suicide, but Ulrich wasn't in danger at all. He was used to fighting large numbers. It was his specialty. But it became obvious why he could handle them. Ulrich did know martial arts. And he was an expert. His body moved like water. It was as the gangsters were in the ocean. Every move they made, caused the water to move with them, and Ulrich was moving with the water. He was evading attacks, and causing them to hurt each other.

His reflexes were superb. His attacks were swift and precise. He was gliding through the now dwindling crowd of gangsters. Yumi felt that same aura—that same presence she felt around Shinichi Hideyoshi. She really could see the Angelic Dragon in Ulrich. While she was admiring Ulrich's fighting prowess, she didn't realize that Birdface had recovered. His nose broken, he took out his knife and lunged towards, Yumi. Ulrich spotting this, shouted towards her. Yumi turned towards Birdface, but was slow to respond. Birdface raised the knife, but someone grabbed his wrist, and his arm was twisted around again. Yumi heard a nasty crack, and was sure the man's arm was broken. But what took Yumi by surprise was her savior. It was Rust!

Ulrich rushed towards the boy and tackled him to the ground. He began punching him in unbridled fury. Yumi looked over at the gangsters, to see that Ulrich had already defeated them all.

"Stop!" Rust managed to yell.

"Why should I? You got Yumi and Hiroki into this! You better be glad I don't finish your pathetic life!" Ulrich yelled.

"Ulrich, stop." Yumi tried calming him down. "He can't do anything now."

"You got memory loss? This guy almost got you kidnapped."

"But it's over! Just get off of him."

"No!" Ulrich said as he continued pummeling Rust.

Another voice rang out. "Hey! Stop that!" a man in jeans and T-shirt ran towards Ulrich. The man grabbed one of Ulrich's arms, but Ulrich pulled the arm in, and by doing so, caused the man to stumble. Ulrich then punched the man in the jaw. The man let go Ulrich and fell to the ground. Ulrich finally stood up and glared down at the man. The man then performed a sweeping kick, and knocked Ulrich off of his feet. Ulrich got back to his feet, but before he or the man could do anything, another person shouted out.

"Will you all quit fighting?! Gosh, is that all you knuckleheads do?" Yumi yelled. The man and Ulrich both stood there, panting.

Ulrich looked at the man. "Who are you?"

"I'm . . . I'm their bodyguard." The man said. "And the boy who you were punching reports to me. He was supposed to call me if anything happened."

"Wait, what?" Yumi said.

"Bodyguard? We don't have a bodyguard." Hiroki said.

"That's because you weren't supposed to know about Charles." Everyone turned around, and standing before them, was the Angelic Dragon himself.

"Godfather." Ulrich sighed. "What're you doin' here?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. What do you have to do with Yumi and Hiroki?"

"I'm their friend." Ulrich stated. Yumi cleared her throat. "Well, I'm Hiroki's friends."

"I see. But how did you get involved with this?" Shinichi asked, motioning towards the strewn bodies.

"Rust, one of our classmates was stalkin' Yumi. Well . . . at least that's what I thought." Ulrich blushed as he scratched the back of his head. He realized that he had gotten the entire story wrong.

"Well he wasn't "stalking" Yumi per se. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on Yumi and Hiroki. And he was to report to Charles. Once they were on their way to and from school, he was to alert Charles so he could be on the lookout for them." Shinichi explained. "Something obviously didn't go according to plan."

"But he was bullying me!" Hiroki yelled. Shinichi glared at Rust who was finally coming to.

Rust spit out a tooth. "I was . . . I was just tryin' ta makes sure . . . no one wouldn't suspect me. I mean I couldn't jus' change ova night."

"But you was hanging around the girl's locker room when Yumi was in there!"

"Well how would you know that?" Rust barked. Ulrich blushed.

"Hey, I was asked ta keep an eye on you! And that where you was goin'!"

"Well . . . it's something that I would do. So I thought it would keep up the act as long as Emily was there."

"That is not how we do things." Shinichi said in quiet anger.

"B-but you said I had ta make sure nobody would realize what I was doin'."

"Well you obviously failed at that. Ulrich knew what you were up to. And you should've found a different way of doing things! Bullying Hiroki and peeking in the locker room is not acceptable behavior. But how did you even know, Ulrich? Why were you watching him?"

"Because a friend of mine wanted me to keep an eye on him because he was harassin' a friend of hers." Ulrich answered innocently. Everyone looked at Rust once again.

"Okay, let me start from the beginning. When I came ta work for ya, and you gave me this job, I kenw I couldn't act any different than how I used to."

"Right." Shinichi said.

"So I thought that the only way I could keep an eye on Yumi and Hiroki was if I pretended to bully Hiroki, and if I pretended to harass an ex of mine. But I promise to ya, I was jus' doin' my job."

"Your technique sucks." Shinichi stated. "But apparently, Ulrich was tailing you, and he managed to find out what you were doing without being detected at all. If you had simply shut your mouth and staid quiet, that would've been enough! Now what happened here?"

"Well I was simply followin' Yumi and Hiroki like normal, and I was goin' ta stop at the checkpoint, but this gang was gonna kidnap Yumi and Hiroki." Rust said. "I know I shoulda called Charlie ova there, but I kinda panicked and ran at her. And she . . . flipped me on my back."

"It's a sad day when a bodyguard gets his butt handed to him by the person he's supposed to be protecting." Charles chuckled. Rust glared at him.

"But how did you end up here, Ulrich?" Shinichi asked.

"I had a map of the parkin' designations. I kenw that he was watching Yumi in the morning in someone else's ride so no one would see him, unless they was eyein' him like I was. I knew it wasn't his car though, so I wanted to find out whose car it was. Come ta find out it belonged to Joe Sampson who just so happens ta be a membah of this gang. Now I also saw Rust get in his car here on one afternoon. So I thought that Rust was tryin' ta help the gang kidnap Yumi and Hiroki. The Phoenix Gang, as they're called, is notorious for ransomin' folk." Ulrich concluded.

"Excellent." Shinichi marveled. "But why was your car here in the first place?"

"Uh . . . convenience sake." Rusts mumbled. "This is where I stop followin' them, so I leave my car here."

"You were supposed to leave it at school." Charles scolded.

"Oh! I get it now!" Yumi said. "You were spying on me in Joe's car. He's a member of this gang. He would've known what you were up to, what with spying on me. He must've let you do it, so the others could find out the route Hiroki and I take to school, so all they'd have to do was take you out and kidnap us." Yumi concluded.

"Excellent deduction, Miss Ishiyama." Shinichi replied. "Rust we're going to have to do some serious refining on your skills. I knew it would be trouble using a student as a bodyguard, but I'd thought you'd show more initiative."

"What?" Rust asked, puzzled.

"Initiative." Ulrich said. "Ya know. You'd give it your best shot. You would show a lot of effort in keepin' Yumi and Hiroki safe."

"Yes. That's what I mean."

Rust hung his head. "Sorry, boss. I didn't mean for this ta happen. I guess I ain't good at this, huh."

"Well it's not entirely your fault. You need training. A LOT of training. I want you to keep an eye on them, but only when you're at school."

"But what about on the way?"

Shinichi then turned to Ulrich. He smiled at him. "You know, Ulrich. You look just like your father." Ulrich face actually softened. Shinichi turned to Charles. "Give these four a ride in your car. We're going to my hotel room to regroup and to start over from scratch." He pulled out his phone. "Takeo. Your children are safe. Get your wife and meet me at my hotel room." He then dialed another number. "Hey, Roger. I got your nephew with me. How's about we have that dinner tonight. Good. Come over now, I've got something I want to ask you." Shinichi turned to the others. "Well let's go."

Okay! I'm done! This is very long! But it's got everything I need it to have. Honestly it would've been longer, but I thought I'd leave some stuff for the next chapter. I hope you love the plot. Some of this was last minute, and I don't know it runs over well, but I gave it my best shot because I was trying to keep everything consistent and logical. It definitely has some plot twists in it too.

In the next chapter, Shinichi brings is plan in front of everyone. There's talk about what's happened, and with thoughts of the past on the minds of some, very important decisions are made.

All of this in Chapter 6: Another Chance


	6. Another Chance

Hey all! I got another chapter for ya! There's not much to say, so let's just get right to it.

Chapter 6: Another Chance

**26 Years Ago**

"Come back here!" the policeman yelled. It was the same two brats as usual. They seemed to love stealing from the grocery store at the corner, and even though he knew that, they always seemed to slip by and outrun him. "Stop!" the policeman yelled desperately. He used to be in shape. But age was stealing on, and he couldn't keep up with these young folks today.

One of the boys looked over his shoulder stuck his tongue out at him. He was the younger of the two boys which showed in his stature as well as his mannerisms. The older boy grabbed the boy by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him alongside him. "Stop that Rog, you'll get caught." The older boy said. The two boys looked so much alike. It was obvious that they were related.

"Sorry, Toby." the younger one replied. If they could make it to Central Square, they could easily blend in with the crowd. The policeman knew it was now or never, but things were going his way today. A train was passing by, cutting off the boys from their safe haven. The older boy cursed under his breath. The younger boy gave him a scolding look as if to say, 'Don't cuss!'

Not willing to just stand there, Toby grabbed Rog by the arm and pulled him into one of the alley ways. They had to at least try and lose the cop. It seemed as if they would, but they eventually met a dead end. "What now?" Rog asked Toby.

"Hey." They turned to their right, to see their savior standing before them. When the policeman turned the corner, expecting to see the two boys, he was shocked to find the dead end alleyway empty. He was sure he made the right turn, but now he was uncertain. He sighed and decided to try and backtrack.

The boys were on the roof of the building. They got up their thanks to their friend who let one of the ladders down on the fire escape. They had run up the stairs and onto the roof just in time to disappear from the cop.

"Thanks, Shin." Toby grinned at the Asian teen before him. Shin smacked him on the head. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot. Why do you keep stealing? It's not like you need food that badly."

"Yeah, well it ain't like you're no better. You used ta steal all the time, Shinichi."

"That doesn't make it right, and I stopped all of that when came here."

"Whatever."

"Shinichi's right, Tobias." Rog stated. "I don't like running away from the policeman. I keep thinking we're gonna get caught this time. It's no fun."

"No fun? It's exhilarating!" Tobias said.

"It's wrong. And you're gonna end up in jail." Shinichi said sternly.

"You never did."

"That's only because I was a minor. Of course if they knew the things I was capable of and had done . . ." Shinichi trailed off. No one would've ever expected him of being one of the Yakuza's reliable members. He may have only been eighteen, but he had killed before. And as as disgusting as it was, he felt no remorse over it at the time. And when thinking of the people that he killed, the world was better off without them.

"How you expect us ta eat then? Our ma's still too sick ta work. We ain't got no money. It ain't like we're livin' in the President of Interpol's house like you are." Tobias replied. (AN: Just so you know, Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organization. It's HQ is located in Lyon, France; I have no idea where that is, but it's in France so it works)

"I've lucked out. In many ways. But I can get you work." Shinichi answered.

"What do you mean?" Rog asked.

"I'm eighteen now. I got the rest of my life ahead of me. And so do you guys. Mr. Gordon says I could be very useful with handling criminals. Seeing as I have the mind of one, I'd know what they're thinking and how they'd act in certain situations. He says I should definitely think about having a career in law enforcement."

"What's that got ta do with us?" Rog asked.

"Well, Roger, you're too young." Shinichi said as he ruffled the thirteen year-old's hair. "Tobias, you can get work too. He said we can get training and everything. He'll see to it they you, Roger, and your mother get taken care of."

"Anything to keep some kids off the streets, huh?" Tobias smirked.

"Yes. It would be great. He said because I already have martial arts training and whatnot, I could get a better position. You could work your way up though. It would be great. Maybe one day we can be in Interpol."

"Interpol? Tch. I don't do so well with such high and almighty organizations. I don't need no boss yellin' down my neck about those laws and politics."

"Well one day we could go into business for ourselves." Tobias raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to have a business that can both protect people and take down the criminals. I want have a business that covers both bodyguards and bounty hunters. We can do it."

"It sounds nice and all, but I don't want any of that. I don't trust police or the government. They ain't eva been there for us, so I ain't gonna be there when they come beggin' for my help." Tobias said sourly.

"I know you're in a bad position, but you can make it where kids won't have to be in your position."

"There will always be people like us. Ain't no changin' that."

"Hai, hai. But you can make it better for them. You can prevent that and try and help the ones in those situations."

"Come on, Toby. It sounds good." Roger stated as he tugged on his older brother's arm.

"I'll think about it." Tobias said. He stared at Shinichi with his wolf-like eyes. They met Shinichi's soft, angelic eyes. Tobias knew it must've been those eyes that caught many an unsuspecting victim off guard before he ended their lives.

"Well I better be going back home."

"Don't wanna get the Big Bad International Policeman upset." Tobias teased. Shinichi smirked as he started his way down the fire escape.

666666666666

Shinichi stared at the picture on his desk. It was him, Tobias, and Roger. They were all making tough poses at the camera and just acting like goofs. It was before everything went horribly wrong. It was a time that Shinichi yearned for—a time that all three actually longed for. The martial artist quickly snapped out of his thoughts as a sharp knock rattled his hotel door. He knew that knock. It was the knock of an impatient, but concerned person. It was obviously Takeo and his wife, Akiko. He opened the door, revealing his guess to be true.

"Where are they? Where are our children?" Akiko exclaimed as she walked briskly in and searched the room for her dear, precious children.

"They're on their way here."

"What do you mean, 'they're on their way here'?" Takeo yelled. "They should be here! Weren't you with them?"

"I was. I had one of the assigned bodyguards give them a lift here."

"Why couldn't they come with you?"

"I came on a motorcycle." It was the only way to ensure that I'd get to them quickly. Another knock came on the door. This was short and sloppy—someone not in a hurry. It could only be . . ., "Ah, Roger, you came!"

"Course I would. Now when do we get ta eat? I want some steak." Roger said as he rubbed his hands together. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing the Asian couple in front of him.

"Uh, we got some guests? Who are they? Your fam?"

"No. They're friends."

"Oh, I thought maybe you was related to 'em cause you're all Asian." Roger greatly regretted that statement as the three Asians glared at him. "Uh, sorry! I was being stupid. I didn't mean for that ta sound the way it did."

"Un. Are you related to the bellboy here? I mean you're both European," Shinichi said sarcastically.

"Shinichi-san, who is this man?" Takeo asked.

"This is a close friend of mine. His nephew is my godson."

"I hate to sound rude, but why is he here?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"He invited me for dinner." Roger said bluntly. The couple gave Shinichi questioning looks.

"It'll all make sense when everyone gets here. I have a lot to discuss." Yet another knock came from the door. This one came at a steady pace. It was the knock of serious, respectful person knocking on the door of someone whom they revered.

"Charles, I see you brought the kids with you. Good. Now all of you come in." Shinichi said as he motioned for them to enter."

Ulrich wasted no time shuffling into the room and plopping himself onto the couch and propping his feet onto the coffee table. "Okay, so what's this about, God-pops." Rust sat down in the same manner but even less appropriate with his feet hanging off the arm of the sofa.

When Yumi and Hiroki entered, their parents ran forward and pulled them into squeezing hugs. They started saying things such as, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? I knew going to public school was a mistake! I'm just glad you're safe."

"Okay, so what's up?" Roger asked even more confused with so many people here. He wasn't expecting dinner to be so . . . crowded.

Takeo stood and glared at Ulrich and Rust. "Are these the hoodlums that tried to hurt my daughter and my son?" Before anyone could respond, Takeo walked over to them grabbed them by the collars of their shirts. "How dare you two put my family in danger! Kids these days! Is this what society has come too?"

"Yes. Teenaged boys savin' girls and little boys. It's a travesty." Ulrich joked. "And I for one won't stand for it. I mean boys like me and Rust should be out sprayin' graffiti 'n' stuff. We should be breakin' windows and stealing from gas stations 'n' groceries stores." Yumi, Hiroki, and Rust tried to hide their laughter. Even the other adults had to clear their throats and give startled coughs.

"You think that's funny? I'll have you know I can have you freaking deported! And I'm not even a native here!"

"Ooh, you gonna kick me outta France? Outta this dump where girls almost get raped by gangs and kids get kidnapped by 'em too? I'd just hate that. I'd be torn ta shreds no matter where you sent me."

Takeo was about to respond but his wife quickly intervened. "Okay! Before anyone gets hurt, and before you make a fool of yourself, let's have Shincihi-san explain what's going on." She then turned to Ulrich. "Excuse me, I don't know who you are, but I will not tolerate disrespect from a dirty, brat like yourself. Now mind your manners and act like you've got some sense. I've known many people like you, and most of them have gotten shot for their jackassery." She said all of this without ever dropping her smile.

Everyone was a bit taken aback. They didn't expect this from small, Akiko. "W-wow! Yes ma'am! I sure won't cross you again!" Ulrich said laughing at the whole situation. He then stepped aside and motioned for her to have his seat. "Please, ma'am. I insist."

"Nice try, but all isn't forgiven so quickly."

"My apologies, ma'am. And may I just say, I am finally delighted to discover just where Yumi gets her goddess like beauty from. And her polite behavior as well."

"I know you're not joking. Because if you were, dear, I'd be _really _upset. So I'm going to thank you for that comment. Arigato." Mrs. Ishiyama then looked at Yumi expectantly.

"Thank you, Ulrich."

"Oh! So this is Ulrich. I thought I recognized you," Takeo stated. His wife gave him a discerning look. Takeo dropped his next remark.

"Right. If everyone's done chatting, let's eat." Shinichi said and led the way to the dining room.

6666666666666

It was a very awkward dinner. Mr. Ishiyama was asking his kids how they were doing while glaring at Ulrich and Rust; Mrs. Ishiyama was critiquing the cooking to Charles. Charles would nod and say, "Mmhm." He just felt really out of place. Rust was eating like a caveman, which only made Mr. Ishiyama look at him with even more disgust. While answering her father's questions, Yumi was rearranging the food on her plate and slowly eating it. Hiroki wasn't paying a lot of attention at his father's questions and was more preoccupied at laughing at Ulrich, who seemed to be eating like a proper gentleman; Ulrich would use his knife to cut up his steak and then he would ever so gently stabbed a piece with his fork and place it into his mouth and chew for what seemed like hours. Then he would swallow, take his napkin and dab at his mouth and repeat the process. He was being as he liked to call, "a polite jackass" in front of Mrs. Ishiyama. For someone reason, she found this amusing while her husband was insulted enough for the both of them. Roger was actually trying to eat proper in front the others, and tried to make light conversation with Shinichi as if everything was okay. Shinichi was just finding the whole thing funny and couldn't stop smiling.

When everyone's plate was mostly cleared (except for Ulrich's who was only half-way done), Shinichi cleared his throat to direct the attention towards him. "Okay, the reason I brought you all here was for several reasons. But first off, I'd like to get a full picture of the events that went down today." After filling everyone in on what had happened today.

"Way ta go, nephew!" Roger said as he patted him on the back.

"Well. I did not do much. I was only coming to the aid of a friend and his sister." Ulrich said in a mocking, prim and proper voice." The teens tried their best not to laugh, and Mrs. Ishiyama had a very amused smile on her face. This woman did have a playful side. Ulrich laughed. "Sorry, about that, Mrs. Ishiyama, but I just can't keep this up. If you'll excuse me, I gotta talk like me. It's hard talkin' all proper and stuff."

"Right. I'll let it slide seeing as your brutish ways were responsible for saving my children's' lives.

"He's mocking you! How can you forgive him so quickly?" Mr. Ishiyama said.

"Oh pipe down, Anata (dear). He's has manners in his own way. And he was just making a respectful joke. If he really was insulting me, he would've acting like the brute next to him." She gestured to Rust who had barbecue sauce all over his face and shirt.

"Hey! I got manners. I jus' don't use 'em."

"Why would you use _him _as a bodyguard?" Mr. Ishiyama asked.

"Because. He reminded me when I was young."

"Wait! You acted like Rust? I don't believe this." Ulrich said. Rust was a complete idiot who only knew street fighting. He relied on brawn and no brains policy to get things accomplished. Shinichi had a PhD in criminal psychology and a master's degree in biology. He knew all about a criminal's mind and how to destroy them medically and anatomically with his martial arts.

"Back in my yakuza days. I wasn't all that bright either. If it wasn't for my foster parents, I would've never gotten an proper education. Rust, you have a lot of potential. I truly feel that you _and _Ulrich have just been dealt a bad hand. No offence to you, Roger. But a place like this (especially with his past) has just stunted his growth as a person. If he could just be given the right opportunities, he could evolve into something better. You two could definitely be an unstoppable pair."

"I ain't parin' up with this idiot!" both of the boys yelled. They'd always hated each other. It just wouldn't be right if they stopped that now.

"But I really do. I guess Rust isn't a lot like me, but he's definitely got the gall to be great. And you two definitely balance each other out. Ulrich, you use your street smarts and people sense to get around. Rust uses his strength and commanding presence to get around. This could be a deadly combination! You both owe it to yourselves to explore this."

"Stern and I have always been enemies. I ain't workin' wit him," Rust stated as he folded his arms.

"Same here."

"Wait. Now why does Ulrich gotta team up wit anyone anyways? He ain't no bodyguard," Roger asked, catching on to what Shinichi was implying.

Shinichi smirked. "It would be better if both of them kept an eye on Yumi and Hiroki. They'll have to do it in their own way, but I think using their well-known hatred with each other can help keep their positions as bodyguards a secret to whoever's targeting the Ishiyamas."

"Come on, Unc. Lemme do this. I'll still be in school keepin' my grades straight, and I get ta make sure these people stay safe. We're talkin' about their lives here. If I can do sumthin', then why shouldn't I?"

Roger frowned. "Fine. I still don't like it, but it's okay."

"Good, because I want you to help too." Shinichi replied.

Roger nearly jumped out of his seat. "For what?!"

"Well you may have never been a big-time crook like me or your brother, but that's just it. You know how crooks act, and I'm sure you could spot one by just the way one breathed. I'd like to hire you to work as a maintenance man at the Ishiyama's home. I do have other bodyguards there, but as the maintenance man, you'd be able to make sure things like the power going out, or the security system going out of whack won't happen so easily. And you'll get those bills paid."

Roger's eyes lit up at that fact. "I like the sound of that. Don't really know how I even got mixed up into your crazy plans, but sure."

"Of course this all assuming that the Ishiyamas accept this." Everyone turned to look at Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama.

"Just one question. What do you mean by his brother used to be a big-time crook?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"Yes, it is something that they deserve to know. But I'll leave it up to Ulrich and Roger to disclose such information."

Roger looked at Ulrich. He wouldn't dare say a word unless he wanted him to. It was life that got messed up because of what happened.

Ulrich closed his eyes and gave out a sigh. "My mom and pops were big-time mobsters. They had successfully taken over the Mafia while they were still in their 20s. I don't know if you've heard of them. They were known as Killer Wolfgang and the Poisonous Charlotte. Had a bounty of like several million on their heads apiece." Ulrich gave a weak smile to his godfather. "As you know, Shinichi is my godfather. He was a good friend to my mom and pops. He's also the son of a gun who threw 'em in prison. Course they ended up in there cause of me. It's hard bein' evil when ya got a baby that ya actually care for. So the jig was up. And . . . here I am." Ulrich leaned back in his chair with his head resting on his folded arms.

Mrs. Ishiyama raised an eyebrow. It was obvious she didn't like the idea of someone with Ulrich's lineage supposedly protecting the lives of her family. But at the same time, she felt sorry for him. She had gone to enough charity functions and orphanage volunteer programs to recognize the feigned smiles of lonely and depressed children who felt that the world was deliberately going against them.

Mr. Ishiyama looked Ulrich over. They did seem like they could handle themselves. And if this Ulrich boy was able to handle an entire gang (granted there were no guns involved), then it wouldn't be a bad idea to use him and the Crusty, Rusty, or whatever his name was as well. It would definitely catch his elusive enemy off guard. And it was as Shinichi said, they were simply put in the same position that he was all those years ago. If Takeo could look past Shinichi's bad situation, surely it wouldn't kill him to do the same for these two.

They both began whispering to each other. When they turned towards the group, Mr. Ishiyama spoke up. "Yumi. Hiroki. Are you okay with this?"

"Yes!" Hiroki yelled. He'd do anything to keep Ulrich around. Yumi just gave a nod and a smile.

"We'll see how this works." Mr. Ishiyama replied.

Shinichi smiled. "Then it's settled. Charles I'd like you to help me fill out all minor details. We'll start this plan tomorrow."

"That soon?" Roger asked. Shinichi nodded. Once everyone was in agreement, everyone seemed to go off in their separate directions.

Mr. Ishiyama and his wife began having a more polite and open conversation with Roger, while the teens just made idle chit-chat.

Shinichi told Charles to wait a moment and entered his bedroom. He picked up the picture on his desk. Everytime he looked at the picture he always felt a sense of guilt. He felt responsible for how things had happened. But he remembered what Tobias had told him when he finally gave up his Wolfgang Persona.

"_Wish I coulda done things differently, Shin. But I can't. Don't let my boy grow up ta be like me. And you make sure you stop any youths like us from doin' the same too. I just wish I had realized this years ago. But you only get one chance. Ya rarely get another one."_

He was right of course. Shinichi had dreamed of Tobias, Roger, and him running this business that he had now together. And maybe things didn't end up that way, but maybe he'd have another chance to do something even greater with Ulrich and Rust. It was another chance to stop two boys from wasting away their lives. It was another chance at turning two potential thugs into two professional law enforcers. And Shinichi was determined not to let this chance pass him by.

Okay! I'm done. I had no idea I'd stop right here, but it's a great place to stop. There's been enough said, and I really like how things went in this chapter. In the next chapter, the plan is put into effect. You'll see how everyone feels about this plan, and there will be another scene from the past.

All of this in Chapter 7: Good Changes and Bad Changes


	7. Good Changes And Bad Changes

I know it's been a while. And I'm sorry about that, but I've been doing a lot of pondering over how this chapter and how to the date for my other story, HTMBWP will go. Well, I've finally gotten started with the hopes of the plot lines for both stories will just figure themselves out. I'm writing both chapters simultaneously, so appreciate that I'm trying to get both of them updated much sooner than one of them would have been updated. Well anyways, let's get started.

Chapter 7: Good Changes and Bad Changes

**26 Years Ago**

Shinichi was leaning against the wall of the Law Studies Building of Paris University. He took a look at his watch, wondering when she was going to exit the building. He was supposed to waiting outside of the classroom, but normally she was always waiting for him outside of the building. He could hear the rushed walking steps of heels as the clicked on the floor. It was her. She never ran. If she was in a hurry, she would just walk a little faster. But as always, the world ran on her schedule and, she wouldn't have it any other way. She burst through the door and looked at him with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Shin." She said casually. He just glared at her.

"You're ten minutes late." He said glowering at her.

"Well if ten minutes made you worry so much, I apologize. It's not like I have to wait for you, right?" she pointed out.

"Whatever. Doesn't really matter. So whose the new boy toy you're going out with today, anyways?"

She sighed and ran a hand through her long, black hair. "Just another one of dad's lame picks. One of dad's "'future company heads.'" The girl rolled her eyes in boredom. Shinichi smirked.

"Where to this time?"

"The café down the street. But before the date, I need to go to make one quick stop."

Shinichi grumbled. "No, Charlotte! Not again!"

"Why not?" Charlotte pouted. Her face was scrunched up like a little girl's face. It was very adorable considering she was in college. Of course she was only sixteen, but that's one of the perks to being a certified genius.

"I just don't see what's so exciting about talkin' to a bunch of homeless people."

"They're fascinaiting."

"It's only fascinating because it's different. You just want to be anything than the rich, daddy's little girl that you are now."

Charlotte glared at Shinichi. "I used to find you interesting too. But you changed."

"For the better. Besides, I'm your bodyguard. They might kidnap you or something." Charlotte started laughing.

"Yeah right! Like some half-starved drunk could handle me! You can barely handle me on a good day." She said poking him in his chest. He frowned at her. The girl takes a couple of judo lessons, and all of a sudden she thinks she's Bruce Lee . . . considering he didn't master judo anyways.

"I just don't get why you go there."

"It's like you said." Charlotte said as she made her way to the pub that these homeless people hung out at. "They're different. They have an entirely different perspective of the world. And I like it. They're nice enough, anyways. They know the real world. They know what it's like to struggle and fail. I never had those worries."

"Why would you want those anyways?"

"Shinichi, you've only been my bodyguard for a month now. So we don't really know each other well. But let me tell you something that you already know. My parents have made sure that I always got what I wanted. Therefore, everything that I have is not mine because of my own hard work. They've put me in this very suffocating circumstance where when I finally fail, I'll most likely be completely crushed." Charlotte stopped walking and looked Shinichi in the eyes. "I do not intend on being crushed. I will know what it means to fail, and I will grow even stronger from my failure. I prevail over everything because I will know failure, and therefore I will know what it means to try my hardest and only having that fact alone as my reward. This will better me father than anything my parents have ever given me."

Shinichi chuckled. "You're cute, you know that. That's really cute what ya just said, too. But I get it. But you can't handle failure. Not by just knowing what it is. You won't know if you can handle it until you've actually experienced it. I know failure. I know it real well. But now, thanks to this job, I know what success is like too. And trust me, Char, I appreciate it so much more because I have failed. And now I know why it's so much better. You say you've never failed, Charlotte. Truth is, you've never succeeded either. Because you've never had a chance to fail. If there's no chance of failure, then there's no chance of succeeding. That's because you haven't truly challenged yourself. But that doesn't mean you have to rush to it, Char. Slow down. Take your time with your life."

"You see? That's what I mean! I want to be able to have life experience like you do! I want to truly understand these things the way you do! But I never have. I feel like Buddha when his parents kept him cooped up in his home. I don't know what it's really like, and I can't do anything either. It's suffocating!"

"Well what is it that you wanna do?"

"Anything! I just want to live!" Charlotte yelled at the top of lungs. Shinichi chuckled. Charlotte could be very eccentric sometimes. She had a lot of energy, that's for sure. She was like a baby spider that couldn't control the amount of poison she injected just yet. Therefore she was using too much, and could be such overkill. Shinichi had been her bodyguard for a month, and he had been questioning just why he was picked to protect her. He was still confused actually. But maybe it was because they balanced each other out so well. Then again, maybe he was the only one desperate enough to take the job.

Nowadays, Shinichi felt like he still didn't know why he was chosen. All that was certain was that his meeting with her had changed everything. He just wished he could've seen the change that was to come over her sooner. Maybe he could've stopped her from going down the wrong path. But he had to be honest with himself. It's hard telling the person that you love no."

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Ulrich was on his way out the door when his Uncle Roger stopped. "You're gonna go out the door like that?" he asked. Ulrich looked down at his clothes: Jeans and a T-shirt. He nodded.

"This is how I always dressed." He stated.

Uncle Roger shook his head in disbelief. "You're a bodyguard, boy. Take some pride in that! I know ya don't have ta dress all fancy for it. But why not? This is your work. Dress for the part."

"Well what do ya want me ta wear? A suit?"

"Close. Hmmm. They might be just your size." His uncle muttered under his breath. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Unc, hurry. I gotta go by Hiroki and Yumi's and walk with 'em." He could hear some rumbling going on, and then a screeching of a box.

"Here they are!" his uncle yelled in triumph. He came running back with a set of clothes in his hands. " 'S probably not a good idea ta wear clothes that's been in a box for years 'n' stuff, but I didn't really think on this 'til now." He handed the clothes to Ulrich who simply stared at them. "Well . . . put 'em on. Don't just stand there." Ulrich grumbled as he shuffled back to his room. When he finally put the clothes on he stood in front of the bathroom mirror and was surprised at what he saw.

He looked like a professional mobster honestly. But it worked for Ulrich. If anything, it just made him look more dangerous but in a refined way. And if any one piece of clothing was missing from this apparel, it would take away from the overall effect. The black slacks; the white buttoned shirt, the black vest, the nice comfortable loafers; all of it made a wonderful combination. But how the heck was he supposed to fight in this!? Ulrich opted out the black loafers for his all white sneakers. Then he decided to switch out the black slacks for some black jeans. At least he'd be able to move around a bit more.

When he came into the kitchen area again, his uncle was sitting at the table and talking to Shinichi who must've entered while Ulrich was dressing. "Well if it isn't the Don." Shinichi joked.

"That's kinda how I feel."

"Ya didn't like the slacks or the shoes?" Uncle Roger asked.

"Can't really move around in 'em if sumthin' happens." Ulrich explained.

"True enough. But ya look good." His uncle grinned.

"There's something missing." Shinichi said frowning."

Ulrich sighed. "I ain't changin' again."

"It's got nothing to do with your clothes." Shinichi turned to Roger. "Do you still have the hat?" Roger's eyes lit up.

"Now why didn't I think of that!? Course I got it." Roger went to get it, and soon returned with a black fedora hat in hand.

"I really am the Don." Ulrich muttered when he put the hat on. It fit perfectly. It smelt old, as if it there was a history to it. "Who's was this?"

"That was your father's hat." Shinichi said. He then took a picture out of his wallet and gave it to Ulrich. It was a picture of Shinichi and Ulrich father and uncle as teenagers. They were all wearing fedora hats, and dressed up in mobster-like clothes.

"So you three ever joined the mafia?" Ulrich asked. The two men laughed.

"Nah, we didn't. But you know about your father." Roger answered. "That hat was actually your grandfather's. Your grandmother said she met him when he had that hat. Said that was what made her notice him. He wore it when they got married."

"I didn't know gramps or dad had such a thing."

"Yeah. He loved hats—specially fedoras. My hat was one of his hats too. He had a whole collection of 'em. Course when he and mom died, we didn't really have a lot of money. Had to sell most 'em. . ." Roger grew silent.

Ulrich took off the hat and examined it. It was a bit dusty and obviously worn from such a lifespan. It felt very warm in his hands. Ulrich felt like he had something that connected him to not only his father, but his grandfather as well.

"What did gramps do?"

"He was an army man through and through. Even when there was no war, he was trainin' troops and what not. When I was just two he died on duty. All we had then was a government check."

Ulrich put the hat back on, and it felt differently. It was like he had his grandfather with him. "What about the clothes?"

"Your fathers. I wore 'em too as hand-me-downs."

"That's what I'm wearin'. My dad and my granddad." Ulrich simply nodded his head in approval. The three guys were not much for words and definitely not for feelings. That nod said all it needed to say to them. Ulrich was very grateful and he loved the clothes and the hat.

"Well seeing as you're running late," Shinichi said as he stood up. "I'll take drop you both off at the Ishiyama's."

It was a silent trip for the most part, and when they got there, Shinichi staid in the car. "Oh! Ulrich, one more thing." Shinichi said as he motioned him to come closer. "The one thing that you must never do as a bodyguard is let your feelings get in the way."

Ulrich chuckled. "Feelings? You think I'm that weak ta do sumthin' like that?"

"I'm serious. Don't fall in love with your client. It's . . . very harmful." Shinichi said grimly. Ulrich just nodded his head.

"You don't have ta worry 'bout me, Godfather." Shinichi smiled at him and drove off.

"Hey!" Hiroki called out Ulrich as he ran towards him with Yumi bringing up the rear. Ulrich waved. "Cool clothes. You look like a mobster." Hiroki said as he marveled at his idol's apparel.

"I do, don't I. Unc, thought it'd be betta if I dressed up a bit."

"So decided to dress up like a criminal?" Yumi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I'm a sophisticated crook. Figure if ya gonna be one, ya may as well be one of the best, eh?"

"It's true. You can have more respect for them than you do for a low-life thug."

"That's just it. A life of crime is a low-life already. They do it to make themselves feel betta. Well at least that's why I would do it." Yumi laughed.

"You don't really care about appearances, do you?"

Ulrich gave it some thought. "Nah. I figure, what's the difference between a jackass in jeans and a T-shirt like we thought Rust was. And a real jackass like Pretty Willie who dresses up in sweater vests and khakis."

"Pretty Willie?" Hiroki chuckled. "That's a horrible name. It fits him though." The three laughed.

"Ulrich." Mr. Ishiyama addressed him. He was wearing his suit and was about to get in his car for work.

"Yes, Mr. Ish?"

The man frowned at the shortened name. "I just want to stress how important it is that you three stay safe. Just so you know, you'll also have to stay over here in the afternoons. You'll be here as a maintenance assistant, and Rust will be here for tutoring with Yumi."

"I remember. He'll be here the days I can't come because of my own tutoring." Ulrich stated.

"Exactly. You two behave and be on your guard." Mr. Ishiyama said to his children. They both nodded and then they all hugged. Ulrich felt a pang of jealousy.

Mrs. Ishiyama walked up to join in the love. She then turned to Ulrich. "Hello, Ulrich."

"Good Morning, Mrs. Ishiyama." Ulrich said, even giving her a little bow. Mr. Ishiyama was even more perturbed that this cretant would actually show more deference towards his than he did to him. It was all Yumi and Hiroki could do to keep from laughing.

"You're not mocking me, are you?"

"No! Of course not. I mean it from the bottom of my thuggish heart." Ulrich joked. "I'll never cross you."

"You'd do well to remember that."

"I'll remember it betta than I remember my notes for chemistry class (granted he wasn't even taking that science this year). Mrs. Ishiyama gave him a grim smile and stepped into the car.

"Bye, kids!" Roger yelled at them as he started up the car and drove off, and the kids started their trek to school.

"Your mom's hot." Ulrich said, breaking the silence.

"EWW!" Hiroki and Yumi exclaimed. "She's old!" Hiroki added.

"She sure don't look it." Ulrich said. "Is that an Asian thing? What is it, the fish?"

"You're so smart, you know that." Yumi replied.

Ulrich laughed. "You two need ta lighten up. I'm just messin' wit ya."

"I sure hope so." Hiroki commented. They had finally made it to the school gates.

Hiroki dashed off after spotting his friend, Johnny. Yumi was about to meet up with her own friends, when Ulrich tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?"

"If it makes ya feel betta," Ulrich said, blushing a little. "You look just like your mom." Yumi blushed, catching that hint of his words. He chuckled. "And ya got soft lips too."

"Don't read anymore into that kiss on the CHEEK than you should, Stern. It might be the kiss of death for you." She warned. She gave him a friendly smile and walked off.

777777777

Lunchtime came quickly. It was Wednesday, so Rust didn't sit with Yumi at Health today. She actually wanted to talk to him about everything, so she surprised herself when she noticed that she was a bit disappointed by this. At the same time, she was quite glad that a moron was sitting next to her. She wanted to think over how lunch was going to over. It made sense, but she just didn't know how it great an idea it was for Ulrich's friends to mix with her friends. Lunch was going to be very interesting.

"So does everyone got their lunches?" Ulrich asked his friends.

"Yes, dad." Odd joked. "I don't get why we gotta do this. Why are we sittin' wit Belpois and the Nerds?"

"Isn't one of them your cousin?" Theo remarked.

"Yeah, so? That doesn't mean I like all of them. I don't have a crush on Yumi or Emily, unlike you."

"Em and I are friends." Theo urged.

"I didn't say it was her." Odd pointed out. Theo kicked him in the shin.

"Stop it, you idiots." Sam said. "Yumi is nice people. I'm sure her friends are great too."

"Let's just get this over with." Ulrich said as he walked off.

Emily and Aelita were animatedly talking about the Halloween party that was to take place at school when Ulrich sat down next to Yumi.

"Hey, Yumi. Hey, Aelita."

"Ulrich! You're gonna sit with us?" Aelita asked. Ulrich nodded. "But what about your friends?" As if on cue, Theo, Odd, and Sam took seats at the table.

The table was draped under a veil of silence. "So, uh, what's up?" Ulrich asked.

"Um . . . not to be rude," Emily started.

"Why are you guys sitting with us?" Jeremie blurted out.

"Ulrich leaned towards Yumi. "You didn't tell 'em we was sittin wit you guys?"

"Well I didn't know how to break it to them. It's not like I can tell them about the body guard business."

"Well that's why you lie." Ulrich grumbled.

"I'm not gonna lie to my friends!" Yumi scowled.

"Yo, we know you to wanna talk all low and whisper love to each other, but we wanna know what's goin' on." Odd teased.

Ulrich and Yumi both sat up and glared at Odd. "Well . . . we just thought that it would be great if we all got to know each other." Yumi stated.

"Why?" Odd asked.

"Yeah, it's not like we got anything in common." Jeremie stated.

"You just agreed with him. You got that in common." Aelita snapped. "I think it's a great idea. I mean, I always wanted to get to know you guys after hearing so much about you from Ulrich."

"Then why didn't you?" Sam asked. Aelita felt like she just slapped her in the face.

"Well, uh. I just didn't . . ."

"You scared of us?" Theo asked.

"Don't like hangin' with trash?" Sam added.

"No, it's just that, people are always talking bad about you guys, but I've always thought that you guys were way better than what people made you out to be."

"Oh, I get it. You pity us." Theo accused.

"She doesn't pity you, Theo. She thinks better of you." Emily said. "Are you too ignorant to see that?"

"Just because he likes you doesn't mean you can call him ignorant, ya Priss reject." Odd yelled.

That did it. Emily stood up and slapped Odd across the face. "Hey! You don't hit my boyfriend!" Sam yelled.

"Your boyfriend is trash!" Emily roared.

"And you're so antisocial, even the school skanks don't like you!"

"Hey! Don't call her that." Theo said.

"You gonna stand up for her when she insulted yo friends? What kinda man are you?" Sam barked.

"She's right, Em. That's wasn't nice of you to do that to Odd." Theo said to Emily.

"Are you her dog, Theodore? Grow a backbone stop letting her walk all over you."

"She's right, Sam. You boss me around too much." Theo frowned.

"Traitor. You flip-floppin' on us or sumthin'?" Odd said.

"I don't know! I'm stuck between loyalty and emotions! I'm just a teenager! I can't make this kind of a life-changin' decision!"

"Maybe if you used your brain a little more." Jeremie said.

"Hey, pal, have a heart." Ulrich commented.

"Like you even have one! You heartless murderer!"

"You guys are just like the rest of 'em!" Sam yelled.

"Yeah, you judge us like everyone else does." Theo stated.

"It's not like most of that stuff isn't far from the truth." Emily retorted.

"Can't we just see the good in us all?"

"And who are you? Mother Teresa?" Sam spat.

"Control your boy toy, Aelita. He shouldn't be makin' such snobbish remarks." Odd stated. "Let's see if he can calculate the amount of blood he'll lose if I busted his nose."

"YO, CHILL!" Everyone grew silent and looked at Yumi. "What is going on here? Ulrich and I thought that it would be a great idea if we all can be friends. And why not? Odd and Aelita are cousins; I'm already friends with Sam; Theo and Emily are practically in love . . . well at least one of them is; and Aelita and Ulrich are friends too! Jeremie, you act just as much of a jackass as Theo, Odd, and Ulrich do, so get off your high-horse and start making some friends. Odd, I don't know you that well, but if you'd stop making such obnoxious remarks, maybe people wouldn't look so disgusted with you. Sam, just because someone wears a lot of pink doesn't mean they're some evil demon. You dress closer to one anyways. Emily, you were horrible to them when you were a Priss, so why don't you try apologizing, and then realize that you got a somewhat great guy here you loves you. Aelita, they're not deserted orphans. So stop talking about how horrible everyone sees them, and just see them as people and not some type of rescue project, or whatever. Now let's sit down and have a nice lunch together."

Everyone was a bit perturbed by Yumi's rant, but they knew she had a point. They all mumbled their apologies and Sam and Emily even hugged (it was more like Sam giving Emily a bear-hug, and the latter trying to breathe).

"Hey, wait a minute!" Theo said. "What about Ulrich? Doesn't he get yelled at?"

"Ulrich didn't do anything wrong. He was trying to get you guys to calm down." Yumi stated.

Odd smirked. "I know what's goin' on. They like each otha, and they want us ta get along so they can keep seein' each otha. That's why she won't yell at Ulrich."

"Aww, you like Ulrich? That's sweet." Aelita cooed.

"What? No!" Yumi yelled.

"Odd I knew was stupid, but dang. You are very dumb. We haven't even known each otha for a week."

"I've only met Emily since a couple weeks ago and we're already together." Theo pointed out. As he put his around Emily.

"Since when?" Emily asked, looking at him incredulously as she moved away from his grasp.

"Uh, since now." Theo said it more as a question. Everyone laughed.

"Hopeless romantic." Sam teased. "Just so ya know, Yumi. Ulrich ain't perfect either. He's a real violent, oblivious jerk."

"I'll remember that." Ulrich smirked.

"Well Yumi's not without fault." Jeremie stated. "She's very stubborn, and can be very impulsive."

"So is Ulrich." Odd stated. "He can get really loud when it comes ta people like the Prisses. Does she do that too?"

"Yep." Aelita agreed. "Come to think of it, Yumi and Ulrich are a lot alike." Everyone agreed. Even the said couple (if you wanna call them that) had to admit it.

"Okay, guys. Bottom line is we all suck, and ain't one of us good all over." Ulrich concluded.

"They're both blunt too!" Emily stated.

"Yeah, they're brutally honest. It's gets on my last nerve." Theo agreed.

"And they got the worse tempers ever!" Sam stated.

"Yeah, if I wanted ta get insulted, I'd just go out in public." Ulrich stated.

"I'd just talk to Sissi, myself." Yumi said as she got up.

"So we're gonna go leave." Ulrich stated.

When they were out of the building, Odd turned to the others and said, "How much you wanna bet Ulrich's dressed that way to impress her?" Everyone then avidly started talking about Ulrich sudden change in apparel.

Ulrich and Yumi walked out into the open schoolyard, and wandered around. "You try to get them to be nice, and then they start insulting you." Yumi complained.

"I know! Some friends they are." Ulrich stated. "I mean we ain't that bad."

"Well, you might be. I'm not. I am a saint."

"You're a devil." Ulrich said as he folded his arms and nodded.

"And what makes you so sure?"

"All girls are devils." Ulrich replied smugly.

"And why's that?"

"I dunno. You girls can be so devious and manipulative."

"As if you boys are any different. You guys are so non-emotional and simple-minded. And is it really manipulation when you guys won't even think for yourselves to begin with?"

"Oh, so you admit it." Ulrich smirked. Yumi laughed.

"As long as you admit you guys hardly ever think."

"We think. WE think about girls; their friends that are girls, cars and how they can get us girls, muscles and how girls like 'em; and food . . . well that really Odd, but guys like food too." Yumi laughed.

"Aww, isn't this nice." Rust said as he walked up to them. "You two gonna kiss." Rust then made kissing noises at them.

"Shut it, Rust." Ulrich frowned.

"I'm just messin' with ya. Um, Yumi. About the tutorin'. I really do need help."

"Got that right." Ulrich mumbled. Yumi and Rust glared at him.

"So I really would appreciate it if ya helped me out for real."

"Sure." Yumi smiled.

"Thanks! And I'm sorry for all the trouble I cause ya." Rust walked off.

"You know, he's not that bad of a guy." Yumi said to Ulrich.

"We've never seen eye to eye. We've always been at each otha's throats."

"Why is that?" Yumi asked. Ulrich shrugged.

"We just fought each other. We're both strong, and people was always pitting us against each other. We never stopped ta realize that we coulda just teamed up and dominated everyone. But as long as we was fightin' each otha, all of the other knuckleheads was free to stir up trouble."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, I guess so. But we're used ta fightin'. That's all we do anyways. So fightin' each otha just seemed like the right thing ta do. I know. It's stupid, but that's the way it is."

"You've been this way your whole life?"

"Nope. Not until Middle School really. Everything changed then. 'S okay. I ain't that bad, am I?"

"No. I never really judged you harshly. But you always had me wondering what kind of person you were from what everyone was saying. I was a bit on guard when you sat next to me in health class. But you just seem to be very misunderstood. You definitely have your rough edges, but you're a good person." Ulrich beamed.

"Aww, and you're not a spoilt brat! You're actually an honest and tough girl. You're like beef jerky."

"Yumi raised an eyebrow."

"You're tough, hard to process, but when ya think about it, sumthin' about you is just right."

"I guess that's a compliment." Yumi sighed. Ulrich laughed.

"I ain't the best at that kinda stuff." The bell rang, and it was now time to return to class. "Well looks like ya got the rest of the day with Rust. Have a nice day, and tell your mom I said hi." Ulrich laughed as he walked off. Yumi just rolled her eyes and shook her head. This was going to be a long school year.

I'm done! I had no idea where to end this exactly, so this seemed like a good place. The next few chapters will be about getting used to the whole bodyguard scenario. There will be more developing of plot lines of course, and of course, we will see Yumi and Ulrich's relationship start to grow. Expect more flashbacks in future chapters as well. They're very important. I'm still a bit lost as to where this story is going in the next chapter. But I hope to make it worth your while.


	8. Unlikely Friendship

Haylo! I'm back. I don't really have anything to say so let's go!

Chapter 8: Unlikely Friendship

"Dad, please!"

"I just don't like the idea, sweetheart." Mr. Ishiyama told his daughter. Yumi had asked him if she could go to Halloween Party that the school was having.

"Come on, Dad. I'm going with Aelita, Jeremie, and Emily. I'm not even going with a date or anything."

"It's not like they'll be there with you 24/7."

"What are you expecting to happen? Do you think whoever is threatening you will just shoot up the school or kidnap me in front of everybody?"

"Well you never know." Mr. Ishiyama mumbled.

"Anata," Mrs. Ishiyama addressed her husband, "what if Ulrich or Rust went?"

"I guess it would be okay." Mr. Ishiyama relented.

"Fine, I'll see if one of them is going. I still think you're overreacting. I _can _take care of myself." Yumi said as she went to retire to her room.

"Ulrich said he's taking me trick-or-treating." Hiroki beamed at his parents.

"And when was that planned?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.

"I told him it was okay." Mr. Ishiyama said. "It's in our neighborhood, and they'll both be close to home."

"I see what you're doing."

"What?"

"If Ulrich's taking Hiroki trick-or-treating, that means Yumi's only hope of going to the party is Rust. But I don't think that's going to go your way." Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"And why not?"

"Rust is definitely interested in Yumi." She said bluntly.

"What!? That's absurd."

"No it's not. He'll definitely go to the party for her. It's funny though. You knew she'd ask, so you decided to have Ulrich take Hiroki trick-or-treating, thinking that it would be hard to convince Rust who seems so anti-social." Mr. Ishiyama frowned and muttered something under his breath about boys and their darned crushes.

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"What do you mean you can't?" Yumi whined.

"I'm takin' your kid brother trick-or-treatin'." Ulrich answered as he closed his locker. It was the start of another day, and for Yumi, the start of a bad one. "You can always ask Rust. I'm sure he'll go with ya."

"He might think it's a date."

"Oh and I wouldn't." Ulrich teased. Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"I don't like what you're implying. Besides, I thought you had a thing for my mother."

"But she's married. And I would never come between a man 'n' his woman." Ulrich joked. "Plus you're younger. You'll last longer, than your mom."

"Okay, Ulrich, you can shut up now." Ulrich laughed.

"Rust 'n' I can't be datin' you anyways. It ain't right, seein' as we're your bodyguards 'n' all."

"That's true." Yumi sighed. "Guess I got no choice."

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Lunchtime came quickly, and Odd was starving. As always, he was one of the first in line, and made sure to get all of the big portions. His endless appetite seemed to evaporate when he saw Aelita was the only one at the table. The others wouldn't make it through the line for a while. He slowly shuffled his way to the table and slammed his tray on the table as he plopped down.

Aelita looked up, and smiled. Odd returned it. They sat there in awkward silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. "For goodness sake! We're cousins." Aelita exclaimed. "Why can't we talk to each other?"

Odd was taken aback by Aelita's outburst. "W-well our fams haven't been too friendly with each otha."

"But that was years ago. We've been close up until that stupid fiasco that happened on New Year's Eve!"

"I know, Lita." Odd said his voice unsteady. "I missed ya, and Antie and Uncle. I don't even really understand what happened. We was just kids 'n' all."

"How are your sisters doing?" Aelita asked.

"Bratty as eva." Odd grumbled. Aelita laughed.

"I figured. We always made your life miserable."

"Yeah, but it was okay. At least you could get 'em ta stop. Sometimes you were on my side."

"I still remember when we put pink dye in their shampoo and then they all had hair like me." They both laughed.

"Yeah, that's why they ended up puttin' purple dye in my shampoo. Course I didn't realize 'til ya came screamin' in the bathroom about it."

"And you still got a purple splotch to show for it."

Odd shrugged. "What can I say, I looked good with it."

"Remember when our parents found out?" Aelita said.

"Oh my god, your pops was livid. Then my mom dyed her hair pink, and my dad dyed his purple. Then your mom put some on your dad."

"That was one crazy family picture."

"The photographer was all kinds o' confused." Odd and Aelita were laughing out loud, with tears of joy and a bit of sorrow.

"I really miss those times." Aelita said when they both finally calmed down."

"Yeah. Eva since, Grandma died, things just ain't been right."

Aelita took hold of Odd's hand and gave it squeeze.

"Let's be friends Odd. The rest of our family might be at odds, but we're still family, and I love my family."

"Me too, Aelita. And you're definitely my favorite cousin." Aelita laughed.

"Odd! I'm your only cousin!"

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"What do you mean you can't go!?" Yumi exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Yumi—I mean I'm _really _sorry, but I already promised my boys that we'd go and hang out togetha."

"You guys can't hang out at the party?"

"Well . . . they ain't really the partyin' type." Rust said as he sratched his head. He frowned. "I'm really sorry, Yumi. I'd take ya if I could—I really would, but I can't let my boys down. 'S been a while 'n' it's tradition."

"Tradition?" Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. We always roam the streets 'n' stuff . . ." Rust trailed off. He really didn't want to have this delinquent conversation with Yumi.

Yumi sighed. "Okay. I guess I just won't go." Yumi slumped over and walk away. Life really bites.

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Yumi stabbed her sushi to death with her chopsticks. And considering that sushi's already dead, that's pretty violent.

"Yumi, is something wrong?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked. Like she didn't know! Of course she knew something was wrong. Yumi had been throwing a fit since she got home and told her parents how she couldn't go to the party because her parents were dead set on her being abnormal and not have a life. It was one of the few spoilt things about her. She didn't like it, but it did have its advantages.

"Of course not, mother. I'm just feeling very hateful to my sushi. You see, I'm guessing this fish (or what once was a fish) probably went to a party with all of her friends, but then she got kidnapped by some bad humans. The humans killed her and now look at her. And because of this her parents are probably sad and worried about where there little girl is."

"Then why do you hate it?" Hiroki asked, as if this really did happen.

"Because Hiroki, Mom and Dad obviously knew the tragic tale behind this fish. And because of this, they've decided to forbid me from having a life because some bad men are going to kidnap me in front of hundreds of witnesses mind you, and feed me to . . . sharks if I go to a stupid party."

"Yumi, that's enough!"

"You're not going to this party, and that's final." Mr. Ishiyama yelled. "Now whether you two like it or not, your lives are in danger, and that means you won't get to do what you'd like. You can't walk around freely, and especially not at night. Your mother and I are only trying to keep you safe." Mr. Ishiyama said.

"I know! I know you're doing this because of you care and you love me, but that only makes it worse." Yumi said her voice cracking. "You _always _do this. Even before this whole kidnapping business. I've never been normal. Just once I wanted to be normal. I didn't want to be the girl with the paranoid, over-protective parents. I just wanted to go and be with my friends, and have a good time, and then come home. I just want to know what it feels like to be normal." Yumi stood up to leave.

"Yumi, wait." Mr. Ishiyama said.

"It's okay, Tou-san. I'll just stay in my room, forever. I won't do anything, or see anyone. I'll just be your little girl who needs protecting from everything forever."

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Yumi had been bawling into her pillow for a good hour. She felt selfish. Her dad did have point. The whole family was in danger, but for once it all just became too much. She saw the party as a way of some normalcy, and yet it was as if everything was dead set against her from having it. She heard a knock on her door.

"Nani?" she managed to strangle out.

"What?" a rough, rugged voice practically yelled in confusion.

She laughed as she got up and opened the door. "Ulrich, what're you doing here?"

"I left one of my textbooks over here whenever I was helpin' Hiroki with his boxin'. He told me what happened, so I thought I'd just see ya. You okay?"

"Hiroki should keep his big mouth shut." Yumi grumbled.

"Ah, the kid cares about his sister. Give him a break. 'N' actually, he feels the same way you do."

"Then how come I was the one who broke down crying?"

"Well he got what he wanted, and you didn't. That, and he ain't as expressive with his emotions 'n' all. But I can tell it was botherin' him because he was all quiet when I was talkin' to him. I noticed he gets that way when he's sad 'n' stuff."

"You noticed that?" Yumi was impressed. Ulrich had some good observation skills to pick up on that already.

"Yeah. But I can't believe it." Ulrich chuckled. "Tough as Nails Yumi crying her little eyes out. Never thought that would happen."

"Shut up." Yumi said as she slid down on the floor and leaned against the wall.

Ulrich sat down next to her. "Hey, I talked to your parents, and we got sumthin' worked out."

"What?"

"Well ya see, I was thinkin' 'bout how you could go to the party 'n' all, and I came up with this: You just need me or Rust to _get _you there. We don't gotta stay. So here's the deal. Rust can take you to the party and then go with his boys. After I finish takin' Hiroki out, I can come on by the party and take you home whenever you ready to go on home."

"And my Dad said yes?" Yumi felt her breath hitch up. Ulrich just grinned at her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yumi shrieked as she embraced Ulrich in a hug.

"Ah, i-it ain't nuthin'." Ulrich said blushing. "I mean what're friends for?"

Yumi smirked. "You know, I think that's the first time you actually said that."

"Said what?"

"That we were friends."

"Oh really." Ulrich looked off in the distance. "Guess it is." Just as things were growing silent, Yumi's stomach erupted with a growl.

Yumi blushed. "I skipped out on dinner."

"You, I got sumthin' if you want." Ulrich said as he dug in his pocket and pulled out some beef jerky.

Yumi laughed. "Really? I mean do you love that stuff or what?"

"What? 'S good."

"No, it's just that you compared me to beef jerky before."

"Oh, that? Well you really are like beef jerky. In fact, you're kinda like a spicy Slim Jim if I had ta take a guess."

Yumi bit off a piece. "Well thanks for the snack and the help, Ulrich."

"Whateva." Ulrich stood up and ruffled Yumi's hair as he left her room.

"Ulrich." Yumi called out.

"Yeah?"

"If I'm beef jerky, then you're sushi."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "Sushi? How so?"

"Because, you're raw, a bit cold, and you're a bit fishy. But you're surprisingly good all the same."

Ulrich laughed a hearty, loud laugh. "That's a good one right there! I'm sushi! You're a riot, Yumi, ya really are. I gotta tell my uncle that one."

"Sushi and beef jerky." Yumi mumbled. "Wonder how that would taste." Yumi was pretty sure that would taste downright awful. And if that is true, it only made her even gladder that she could make such an unlikely friendship with Ulrich.

I'm done! I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this story. I wasn't sure how I wanted the Halloween Party to go so I kept going back and forth on the ideas that I had, only not choose any of the original ideas that I had. So next chapter is the Halloween chapter. Yumi goes to the party, and after a series of annoying events, she just might make a horrible decision.

Next chapter is Chapter 9: A Sheep in Werewolf's Clothing


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